California's Gavin Newsom Uses Boom to Pay Down a $256 Billion Debt
- In first budget, governor proposes additional pension payments
- Extra funds could save state about $14.6 billion in 30 years
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California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t campaign on bolstering public pensions, but they figure prominently in his first budget.
In the spending plan for the fiscal year beginning in July, he proposed making an extra $3 billion payment to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to pay down what the state owes to the fund -- a debt that grows each year. That’s on top of the $6.8 billion contribution California is required to make to the nation’s largest public pension, according to the budget plan released Thursday.