SAN JOSE - Today, Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) joined by Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Dave Cortese, Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa, and a coalition of San Jose City workers gathered in front of City Hall to call for a zero cuts budget for next year and propose a new pension proposal that would roll back benefits to 1996 levels.  On Thursday, revised pension cost projections slashed San Jose's budget deficit from $80 million to $40 billion dollars.

In May, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed proposed a ballot initiative to declare the City of San Jose in a fiscal and public safety state of emergency be put before the voters in the 2012 election.  The proposed ballot initiative intended to cut city workers' retirement benefits for the purpose of solving the city's structural budget deficit.

Despite the opinion of California's Office of Legislative Counsel, sought by Assemblymember Fong, and the concerns of the Attorney General's Office, Mayor Reed continued to pursue a ballot initiative of questionable legality.  In their opinion, Legislative Counsel opined, "the City of San Jose may not validly declare a local emergency under the California Emergency Services Act based upon a chronic budget deficit caused by rising employee retirement costs.  Nor may the city amend its charter to validly limit the retirement benefits to which current city employees and retirees are contractually entitled."

In light of the revised pension projections, Mayor Reed has called off Tuesday's vote on his proposal however he still intends to place the measure on the June ballot. "Despite the revised pension projections, Mayor Reed's decision to still pursue a proposal of questionable legality is irresponsible," said Assemblymember Fong. "With a no cuts budget for the 2012/13 fiscal year, the mayor has the opportunity to legally negotiate pension reform with these workers and reach a compromise, but he is choosing to generate mistrust between the city and its workers."

Assemblymember Fong serves as Chair of the Elections and Redistricting Committee and is a member of the Higher Education, Utilities and Commerce, and Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committees. In addition, Assemblymember Fong serves as Chair of the Select Committees on High Technology and Climate Change and Coastal Protection and is a member of the Select Committees on Aerospace, Biotechnology, Community Colleges, Domestic Violence, and Innovation and the Bay Area Economy.  He represents Cupertino, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose.

CONTACT: Bryan C. Singh (916) 319-2022