Public pension data released
July 4, 2009
California: In early 2009 the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a taxpayer group surveying California pension payments, filed a Public Records Request for the names of retirees whose gross monthly pension benefits exceed $8,333 in any month in 2009.[1] In May of 2009, retired Contra Costa Sheriff's Deputy Donna Irwin filed a petition for a restraining order barring the release of the requested information. She claimed that releasing the amount of her pension would be an invasion of privacy.[2]
Lawyers for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility intervened in the case, arguing that taxpayer dollars used to pay public pensions are a matter of public record. They were joined in the lawsuit by the Contra Costa Times, the Los Angeles Times and the California Newspaper Publishers Association.
Judge Baskin ruled that publicly funded pensions are indeed a matter of public record, writing that: "Access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state." He granted the Motion for Leave to Intervene to the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.[3] As a result, the Contra Costa County Employees Retirement Association will release the names and pension amounts of former county employees who collect $100,000 or more per year to the Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.[4]
Footnotes
- ↑ Editor & Publisher "Two California Papers Join Fight for Release of Pension Data" June 18, 2009 (dead link)
- ↑ Legal Newsline "Calif. judge orders release of public pension data" July 4, 2009
- ↑ 6/25/09 Rulings (see Department 7 - Judge Baskin: 06-25-09, page 5)
- ↑ Contra Costa Times "Contra Costa court OKs release of public employee pension data" July 2, 2009
