Why California cops and firefighters are pushing for a new perk on top of their pensions

A full career as a California Highway Patrol officer or a CalFire firefighter often ends with a six-figure pension that provides a comfortable retirement after countless hours spent in harm’s way.

This year, the unions that represent CHP officers and state firefighters are seeking a different end-of-career incentive: The opportunity to accumulate one big check in addition to that annual pension.

They're backing legislation that would create a supplementary savings program to allow state law enforcement officers and firefighters to leave public service with a payout. It’s called a deferred retirement option plan, which several local law enforcement agencies already offer to their officers.

“It’s a retention tool,” said Jake Johnson, president of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen. He said late-career officers might choose to continue working for the CHP rather than retire if they have access to the supplementary savings plan, particularly if they have already locked in a pension amount that meets their needs.

So far, the measure is sailing through the Legislature with bipartisan support in the Assembly. Supporters argue it would help agencies keep experienced people in uniform and encourage veterans to stay on to train younger employees.

“Unfortunately, both Highway Patrol officers and CalFire struggle to keep on board personnel ideally suited to direct a response when needed the most in critical times when a fire or disaster is upon us,” said Assemblymember Mike Gipson, the Democrat from Gardena who is carrying the bill. “The deferred retirement option program known as DROP is neither revolutionary nor untested. It is working well in other parts of California.”

But certain deferred retirement plans have a poor reputation among taxpayer advocates because they risk driving up expenses from already-underfunded pension systems. Ten bills that would have created or expanded them in California have failed since 1999, according to a legislative committee analysis. Gov. Gray Davis vetoed five of them between 1999 and 2002, citing their potential to drive up costs.

Separately, one deferred retirement plan in Los Angeles allowed cops to gain seven-figure payouts while claiming disability and not working. And, a new program in San Diego County permits sheriff’s deputies to draw pensions while continuing to work in law enforcement — a practice that taxpayer advocates deride as “double dipping”.

“We are talking about people staying in government service for an additional five years, drawing a six-figure salary, then getting a lump sum payment of a million dollars each,” Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a San Diego Republican, said during a debate on the measure last month. He was the only lawmaker to vote against it.

The CHP and CalFire unions counter that their proposal is simple compared to the ones past governors vetoed and the ones that recently drew scrutiny in Los Angeles and San Diego.

• Late-career CHP officers and CalFire firefighters would stop making contributions from their paychecks toward their pensions and instead put money in the deferred retirement plan. 
• They would stop accruing additional years of service toward their pensions if they participate in a deferred retirement plan, essentially freezing their pension income the moment they join the program.
• Officers and firefighters could continue working for up to five years. CalPERS would manage the deferred retirement plan and guarantee participants a 5% return. 
• When they retire, the officers and fighters would get a payout from the deferred retirement plan and also begin receiving monthly pension checks from CalPERS.

What's the cost to the state?

Their deferred retirement proposal leaves some room for union bargaining and it’s unclear how much it would cost.

For instance, it’s up for negotiation whether the state would make employer matches toward the deferred retirement accounts.

Today, the state contributes 70 cents to CalPERS to fund CHP pensions for every dollar it pays in salary to officers. It kicks in 51 cents to CalPERS for CalFire firefighter pensions for every dollar it pays in firefighter salaries for the same reasons.

The state would not have to make those pension contributions on behalf of officers and firefighters in a deferred retirement plan.

Those payroll costs haven’t come up explicitly in legislative hearings on the proposal, but Terence McHale, the longtime lobbyist for public safety unions, noted in a January hearing that officers in a deferred retirement plan would be “no longer accruing adjustments that are ascribable to California.”

“There is no reason not to support this bill,” he told lawmakers. “It does everything we need to do and it works for the administration and it works for both parties.”

Other pension legislation

The two unions keep a steady presence in the Capitol. CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database shows the CHP union has given $2.2 million to lawmakers since 2015, and the CalFire Union has given $1.8 million. Cal Fire Local 2881 over the past several years has prioritized legislation and contract agreements that would improve working conditions by compelling the state to hire more firefighters.

The request adds to the long push-and-pull over how to compensate California police and firefighters. CHP officers and firefighters hired before Jan. 1, 2013 could retire at 50 with a pension formula giving them 3% of their final wages for every year of service, meaning California Highway Patrol officers with 30 years on the job would get a pension worth 90% of their final year earnings.

Officers hired since then have to work until 57 to earn a fully vested pension that accrues at a rate of 2.7% per year, a change detailed in a 2012 pension reform law championed by former Gov. Jerry Brown.

The average pension for a CHP officer with 30 years of service was $99,831 as of 2024, according to an analysis by Transparent California, an online organization that publishes the salaries of California public employees.

Aside from the deferred retirement proposal, the CHP and Cal Fire unions also are backing a proposal that would allow public safety employees to retire at 55 and with a more generous formula. It passed the Assembly by a vote of 70-2, but drew opposition from local government employers and may have a more difficult path to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk than the deferred retirement measure.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.