WASHINGTON — The U.S. Labor Department determined California is ineligible for federal money for public transit, putting in jeopardy about $12 billion in grants including a portion of the infrastructure spending Congress approved last week.
The Labor Department’s determination targeted a 2013 state pension law that the department said eroded public transit employees’ rights to negotiate over their pay and benefits.
A 1964 federal law says that before state and local agencies may receive federal grants for mass transit, the department must certify the agencies are protecting the interests of any affected employees. California, by restricting pension benefits for any new employees hired after Jan. 1, 2013 with its Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act, ran afoul of those federal protections, according to the Labor Department’s Oct. 28 determination.
