Texas hedge fund billionaire John Arnold is taking his campaign to reform America's public pension systems to California, Reuters reported yesterday. Arnold, the founder of Houston-based hedge fund Centaurus Advisors and a former trader at Enron, the defunct energy company, is looking to fund groups supporting ballot initiatives that would scale back what critics regard as overly lavish public employee pension deals. Unfunded pension liabilities for U.S. states have risen to a total of more than $1 trillion, according to the latest analysis from the nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trust. The issue is especially acute in California, where public employee pensions have exceptionally strong legal protections even as many local governments and state agencies struggle with chronic budget deficits. Two California cities, Stockton and San Bernardino, have filed for bankruptcy protection in part because of soaring pension costs.
