America's largest public employee pension plan may carry a lot of weight with its investments, but is it powerful enough to change the basic structure of bankruptcy laws in the United States?

In the latest twist to the ongoing California public pension fiasco – with cities including San Bernardino and Stockton trying to shirk their employee pension obligations as part of their bankruptcy claims, the multi-billion-dollar California Public Employee Retirement System has shot back and is threatening to challenge the very basis of those laws.

According to Bloomberg, CalPERS is pushing to change bankruptcy rulings to insist that it be paid the money that it's owed in pension premiums before other bankruptcy claimants, including the bond companies who have underwritten public debt.