If people lack retirement savings because "the recession and slow recovery have made it hard for many Americans to make a living, let alone put money away" then how are those people going to be helped by taking more money out of the income they are barely getting by on now? Conversely,if many of those people don't have savings because they need or prefer the present use of income to future use, how many will opt out?

And California hopes that this money will be managed "at no cost to the state?". Really? At who's cost will it be managed?

The combination of a guaranteed benefit and an opt out provision is a recipe for utter disaster. To make this scheme even have a chance to work it will have to be mandatory, and then all it is is a redundant state social security plan. Not exactly innovative.