Pension reform went nowhere until 2012, when the governor and Democratic legislators put together a watered-down reform package that critics saw largely as a political ploy to help encourage voters to pass the Proposition 30 tax measure (You can give us more money because we’re serious about reform!). Legislators have since declared the system “reformed” and have gone on to other things.

◼ JERRY BROWN IS ALL TALK ON TEACHER-PENSION MESS - Steven Greenhut/Human Events

...Brown calls for “a new funding strategy” and vows to “begin working with the Legislature, school districts, teachers, and the pension system on a plan of shared responsibility to achieve a fully funded, sustainable teachers’ pension system within 30 years.”

At his press conference last Thursday, he, too, fielded a question from a reporter wondering about his plans to deal with CalSTRS. The governor didn’t point to a Web site, but he did promise to begin meetings, which is a necessary start. But talking about a problem is one thing, and using one’s political capital to fix it is quite another.