California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law Friday that permits as many as 6.3 million private workers without a pension plan to set aside retirement money to be managed by the state.

It is the first state-run pension program for nongovernment employees and may add as much as $6.6 billion to funds managed by the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the biggest U.S. pension. Calpers, as the fund is known, has assets of $242 billion.

The law is aimed at businesses with five or more employees that don't offer pensions or 401(k) savings programs. The law requires companies to contribute 3 percent of a worker's salary to a retirement account. Workers will be enrolled in the program unless they choose to opt out.

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