California GOP's 'No' Button Stunt Is Hypocritical Given Their Support for Pension-Boosting Bills
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "With Republicans Like These, Who Needs Democrats? | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." September 3, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
California Republican lawmakers made a big show of opposing wasteful government spending by handing out 'No' buttons, but then most of them actually voted to approve two bills that will massively increase public employee pensions. The author argues this exposes their fiscal responsibility stance as pure theater, especially since one of the bills contradicts the justification given for the other, and there's no real evidence of the 'retention crisis' they claim to be solving.
Conclusion
California Republican legislators' claim to fiscal responsibility is a farce because most of them voted for or failed to oppose two fiscally irresponsible pension-boosting bills (AB 1383 and AB 1054).
Premises
- Republicans publicly staged a 'no' button photo-op to signal fiscal responsibility and opposition to tax-and-spend bills.
- Despite this stunt, most Republicans voted 'yes' or abstained on AB 1383 and AB 1054, with only two 'no' votes on each bill, and some even co-authored AB 1383.
- AB 1383 would roll back the 2012 PEPRA pension reforms by authorizing lower retirement ages and higher pension formulas, which will effectively become mandatory once powerful safety unions secure deals.
- PEPRA was working as intended, stabilizing pension costs for new hires and improving CalPERS funding levels from 70% to 85%, so reversing it risks repeating past fiscal crises.
- AB 1054 creates a DROP program allowing 'retired' employees to keep working while collecting massive payouts, which undermines the retention-crisis rationale used to justify AB 1383.
- The claimed 'retention crisis' justifying these bills is unsubstantiated, as evidenced by stable police turnover and continued high demand for firefighting jobs.
- Unlike the Republicans, no Democrats voted against these bills, but Democrats also didn't stage a hypocritical fiscal-responsibility photo-op.
Assumptions
- Union campcampaign contributions to Republican legislators influence their voting behavior on pension bills.
- Increasing pension benefits will necessarily lead to the same fiscal problems that PEPRA was designed to fix.
- A legislator's public gestures (like the 'no' button stunt) should align with their actual voting record to be considered credible.
- The success of PEPRA in improving funding levels is primarily attributable to the reform itself rather than other factors like stock market performance (which the author acknowledges but downplays).
- Public employee unions, particularly police and fire unions, have disproportionate political influence that leads legislators to support their priorities regardless of party.