CNBC Article on Stockton, CA (Detroit-related)

For those who don't know, two major cities in California also filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, Stockton and San Bernadino. San Bernadino is slightly larger than Grand Rapids.

Stockton is looking to exit bankruptcy with an agreement not to reduce payments to CalPERS, the state public employee pension system.

San Bernadino, on the other hand, refused to pay CalPERS, and wants relief from pensions.

This story is about what happens in a Chapter 9 when pensions are paid, essentially, first.

Quote: "While a federal bankruptcy judge ruled this week that Detroit could reduce public pensions to help shed its debts, Stockton has become an experiment of whether a municipality can successfully come out of bankruptcy and stabilize its finances without touching pensions. It is an effort that has come at great cost to city services and one that some critics say will simply not work once the city starts trying to restore services and hire 120 police officers it promised to get the sales-tax increase passed."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101253076