California residents on the r/California subreddit are backing Gov. Gavin Newsom after he blocked proposed changes that would have given police officers and firefighters more generous retirement benefits. Many argued that public safety workers already receive enough, while others questioned why they should get benefits unavailable to other workers.
Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1383 on Sunday despite the legislation receiving overwhelming support from state lawmakers. Under the bill, eligible public safety workers could have retired with full benefits at 55 instead of 57. It also would have allowed unions to negotiate pension formulas of up to 3% for each year of service.
For some Californians reacting to the news on Reddit, blocking those additional benefits was the right call.
“Good! Police and FD pensions are both super corrupt,” one person alleged. Another agreed with the veto, writing, “Correct decision. These two groups already enjoy robust benefits during and after their public employment.” A third resident said, “Fire and Police should get NOTHING that every other public sector employee doesn’t get. They aren’t special.” A fourth added, “The last thing that is needed is more money for pigs.”
Residents Take Aim at Overtime and Pension Costs
Several commenters also accused some police officers and firefighters of using overtime to boost their eventual retirement benefits, although they did not provide evidence to support those claims.
“Tell them to voluntarily clean up their overtime fraud which is ballooning the retirement budget to enrich the few abusing the system the most and then we can talk,” one Redditor alleged.
“Anyone that works in government knows how filthy rich and good firefighters and cops have it. They abuse their overtime and they’re out here buying 3 million dollars homes,” another claimed.
Someone else echoed the accusation. “We should reform their benefits. They cheat on overtime to get exorbitant pensions and they want even more???? The greed had no limits,” they wrote.
Newsom’s concerns were centered on California’s past pension problems. He argued that approving AB 1383 would weaken some of the safeguards the state put in place more than a decade ago when Jerry Brown was governor.
The reforms Brown signed in 2012 changed retirement rules for public employees, including how long they had to work to receive full benefits and how much they had to contribute toward their pensions.
Cost was another concern. According to CalMatters, estimates from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System showed that the proposed changes could increase what government employers pay toward pensions by hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
First Responders Had Pushed for the Changes
Police officers and firefighters had made their own case for AB 1383 before Newsom rejected it. Hundreds of public safety workers gathered at the state Capitol to push for the legislation, with supporters arguing that first responders should be able to retire earlier.
Those pushing for the bill said decades spent doing dangerous and physically demanding work justified letting first responders collect full benefits sooner. Supporters also argued that improving retirement benefits could help agencies attract and keep workers.
That argument did little to persuade some of the Californians discussing the veto on Reddit. While some acknowledged that public safety work can be difficult, they questioned whether that should mean getting better retirement terms than other workers.
“I understand the public safety is a tough job. But lots of job are tough. Why should the construction workers and electricians have to pay more taxes to support early retirement for a few?” one commenter asked.
Another made a similar argument, writing, “Sure their job is definitely more taxing but no more taxing than my plumber, ER nurse or roofer who are equally important in our society.”
With Newsom’s veto, the retirement changes proposed under AB 1383 will not take effect.
