Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters writes that "[a]s financially troubled cities suspend their payments to [CalPERS], federal bankruptcy judges may have the final word on the long-assumed inviolability of retirement benefits." According to Walters, a "Sacramento bankruptcy judge handling the Stockton case ruled in a related issue that Stockton’s contractual health care obligations to its retirees could be voided under federal bankruptcy law, thus heightening legal uncertainty about pensions."
"Dan Walters: Bankruptcy Filings by California Cities May Rein in Pensions" (Walters, Sacramento Bee, 11/5).