Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Sunday that would have lowered the retirement age and increased pension benefits for California police officers and firefighters, ending a closely watched push backed by public safety unions.
Assembly Bill 1383 passed the state Senate 33-0 and the Assembly 69-2, but Newsom rejected it, citing the state’s past pension troubles. In his veto message, he referred to the 2012 Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act, or PEPRA, and said he did not want to repeat that era of California history.
The bill, introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor of Inglewood, would have lowered the retirement age for safety workers from 57 to 55, raised pension caps and allowed bargaining for a more favorable formula that could reach 3% per year of service. Police and firefighter unions had argued that 55 is still too late for physically demanding jobs and asked for more time with their families.
Newsom’s decision leaves PEPRA’s framework in place. That 2012 reform, pushed by former Gov. Jerry Brown after the state pension system came under severe strain, raised the retirement age for public safety workers and reduced the pension formula.
