LAT/USC Poll: Calif. Voters Want Public Employees to Sacrifice on Pensions

California voters want state employees to make some sacrifices on their pension plans as the state struggles to get its bloated budget under control, according to a new poll by the Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California. Pensions for current and future public employees should be capped, according to 70 percent of the 1,503 California voters questioned.

Nearly that amount, 68 percent, said they favor increasing the amount of money state workers should have to pay for their own retirement plans.

More than half, 52 percent, supported raising the age at which government workers can collect their pensions. Many public safety workers can retire at the age of 50 and start collecting a portion of their pensions.



“It's pretty clear that there's broad support for making changes in the area of pensions," said pollster Stanley Greenberg, who co-directed the bipartisan poll for the times and USC’s Dornside College of Letters, Arts and Scientists.