Orange County, California, initiated a high-stakes, first-of-its-kind battle Tuesday to rein in costly public employee benefits as the county's Board of Supervisors voted to launch an effort to scale back the pensions of sheriff's deputies. The move comes as local governments throughout the state struggle to cover the cost of public pensions, which some project will force officials to slash government programs in coming decades. Over the objections of the sheriff's deputies union and others, supervisors unanimously agreed to consider rescinding portions of the deputies' pension packages, which were approved in 2001. In wading into the fray, the county is pursuing a novel legal strategy contending that part of the deputies' contract is unconstitutional.
See "O.C. may scale back deputies' pensions", Christian Berthelsen, Los Angeles Times, July 31, 2007