California Labor Rules Central to Governor's Race

Sacramento, CACalifornia labor law has featured heavily into the race to the governor's mansion in the Golden State, particularly in regards the pensions of public employees.

Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate, has made the reform of public employee pensions a central part of her campaign, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Whitman's proposal would be to create a two-tiered system, which would distinguish public safety employees, like police officers and firefighters, from other state workers.

"New government employees, not public safety employees but new government employees beyond the public safety realm, are going to have to come on under a different deal," Whitman said earlier this year. "They're going to have to come in under a 401(k) program, what we call a defined contribution program, as opposed to a defined benefit program, and this will get us a long way home towards reducing this huge unfunded pension liability."

The decision to exempt public safety workers from reform has been a success thus far in the campaign, as the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association has decided to endorse Whitman, according to the news source.