The Louder Our Voice Becomes

By: Paul Curry & John Lovell, Legislative Advocates

In January, when the Governor proposed his so-called "pension reform" agenda, it appeared that defined benefit retirement programs were on the ropes.  The Governor embraced ACA 5 and ACA 1X by Assembly Member Richman.  These proposals would have ended defined benefit pension programs and, it turned out, would have also eliminated death and disability benefits for families of peace officers killed or injured in the line of duty.

While there were many voices who wanted to play "let's make a deal" over peace officer pensions, CCSO moved quickly to combat this ill-thought out proposal.  CCSO, along with other members of the Pension Protection Coalition, led the fight against ACA 5 and ACA 1X.  It was this coalition that unmasked the provisions of ACA 5 and ACA 1X that would have eliminated death and disability benefits.  CCSO played a key role in the efforts to take this issue before the public.

The result is now history.  CCSO was part of the campaign that caused support for ACA 5 and ACA 1X to drop like a rock in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Eventually, the Governor himself withdrew support for efforts to qualify ACA 5 and ACA 1X for the ballot.  For the time being, the security of peace officers is safe, and CCSO was part of that battle.

Not only did the pension reform agenda run into a wall instead of on to a ballot, but the legislative alter egos of the two ill conceived ballot measure met the same fate. Senator Roy Ashburn is carrying what we call the 800 series of bad bills due to their respective bill numbers. When it became time for the Senate committee to hear the bills the overwhelming opposition led the Senator to just present his bills and not ask for a vote. The maneuver was an act to save his dignity in the face of defeat for all of the measures, which mirrored ACA 5 and ACA 1X. CCSO was at the committee table to ensure that these bills were defeated and that everyone knew the effect of this type of legislation on the hard working members of CCSO.

While we have showed the legislative community that all segments of public safety and state workers are a force to be reckoned with we can not let our guard down. We need every member to recruit a new member to help us grow stronger in the face of adversity. The stronger we are and the greater number of supervisors that are represented by CCSO the louder our voice becomes.

________________