State ponders money shift to CalPERS to guard pensions

The state, already strapped by unprecedented deficit and a weakened economy, may be on the hook next year to bail out California’s largest public pension fund – a possibility that once appeared remote.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which provides benefits for 1.6 million workers, retirees and their families, lost more than 26.6 percent of its value from last July through January. The fund, which in October 2007 totaled $260.4 billion, now stands at $166.3 billion, as of Monday.