Governor Jerry Brown of California announced a plan Wednesday that would exempt the state's transportation workers from new pension restrictions. The governor's announcement comes as a response to a warning issued by Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez that California might not receive federal transit funding if it took money out of transportation workers' pensions. The plan would enable $4.3 million in funds to remain circulating, while the state takes on a federal law that makes retirement benefits of transit workers untouchable outside the collective bargaining process. The governor's plan will last through 2014, awaiting a final decision by a federal court.
See "Gov. Brown plan exempts transportation workers from pension limits", Anthony York, Los Angeles Times, September 4, 2013