Judges and Judiciary
Aug. 1, 2002
Judges' Pension Checks Are In the Mail
SAN FRANCISCO - California's retired judges and their beneficiaries will get their August pension checks after, all despite the state's budget impasse, the state controller's office announced Tuesday.
The decision to release the funds came after warnings from the Administrative Office of the Courts that failure to do so would violate the "vested contract rights" of retired jurists.
Last Thursday, California Public Employees' Retirement System chief James E. Burton told California's retired judges they would not get their August checks because of the budget deadlock. In the meantime, Burton suggested in his letter. they could apply for low-interest loans.
Some 1,468 retired judges or their survivors or beneficiaries would have been affected.
AOC director William Vickrey fired off a letter to state Controller Kathleen Connell the next day, asserting that under state law public employees' pensions are an "integral element of compensation and a vested contractual right."
He also declared that both the U.S. and California constitutions guarantee those rights: "It is constitutionally impermissible to impair such vested contract rights in the absence of a police powers 'emergency' serving to protect a 'basic interest of society,'" he wrote, citing Olson v. Cory, 134 Cal.App.3d 85 (1982).
Additionally, Vickrey asserted that the Federal Labor Standards Act requires the state to make "prompt payment of all wages during a budget impasse, notwithstanding a state budget impasse."
Tuesday, Richard J. Chivaro, chief counsel for the controller's office, agreed with Vickrey that payment of the pensions is "legally required."
Nearly a month past the budget deadline, neither legislators nor their staffs are getting paid.
Only judges covered by the JRS I program - those who took the bench before 1994 - would have been affected. JRS II jurists, those who took the bench in 1995 or later, get slightly different benefits that are not affected by the state budget.
In his letter, Vickrey noted that retired judges, their surviving spouses and minor children would be "exposed to hardship without timely payment."
He also pointed out that other state pensioners would continue getting their checks despite the budget impasse. JRS I beneficiaries "should not be singled out for adverse treatment," he said.
Retired Yuba County Superior Court Judge Thomas Mathews, sitting on assignment, said he was worried he wouldn't get paid for his assignment or his pension until a new budget is approved.
"Sure I'm angry; retired judges are the only former state employees that won't be paid, through no fault of our own," he complained before the announcement that the funds would be released.
Mathews, who retired last summer after 19 years on the bench, gets more than $5,000 in monthly pension benefits. "It wasn't a total gift - we paid for it," Mathews said.
Mathews plans to fulfill his assignment whether he gets paid or not, saying he could not "let my court down," but he acknowledged he would have to dip into his savings if his pension checks stopped.
The judicial retirement system is a sore point with jurists, who complain they still must contribute 8 percent of their salaries after they are fully vested, despite no increase in benefits. Many of the state's most experienced judges retire as soon as they are vested, most after reaching age 60 and serving 20 years, refusing to take what they say amounts to an 8 percent cut in pay to stay on the bench.
Retired Marin Superior Court Judge Beverly B. Savitt also criticized the decision to stop paying pensions.
"It's not right," said the 76-year-old jurist, who gets 65 percent retirement benefits. "I think the Legislature needs to stop playing politics with the budget."
Saying her pension doesn't amount "to a hill of beans," Savitt noted, "fortunately, we have put aside resources so we won't starve to death, but some of us probably don't have other incomes." Savitt would get approximately $80,000 a year in benefits.
CalPERS spokesman Darin Hall said Tuesday he was happy the matter was resolved quickly.
"The important thing is those individuals who need the benefits to fulfill their daily needs in life will be able to carry on," he said.
But Savitt and Mathews said the situation points out the need to reform their pension plan.
"Now is the time to straighten out this system," Mathews said. "We've been talking about this for 20 years, but I guess we're a small minority and a not very vocal one."
Donna Domino
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