California Gov. Jerry Brown has agreed with lawmakers on a plan to reform pension plans for public employees, The Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday.
The deal provides for higher contributions and smaller pensions for future hires, the newspaper said. Many of those new employees also will have to be older before they can collect maximum pension benefits.
Citing sources familiar with the agreement, which would become effective Jan. 1, the Bee said it calls for new employees to contribute half of the normal cost of their pensions, while contribution rates for current workers would be subject to negotiations with employers.
New workers who fall into the category of miscellaneous employees -- the largest segment of public workers -- would not begin to collect maximum benefits until age 67. Most public employees in the state now can begin to collect maximum benefits at age 62.
Future public safety hires would not be able to begin collecting their top benefit amount until age 57 -- up from 50 for people currently holding similar jobs.
The California Legislature this year already adopted several changes in public employee pension systems, including a ban on retroactive pension enhancements and so-called pension holidays, which allowed employers and employees to skip some contributions when pension funds run surpluses.
