BILL ANALYSIS SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: SB 1049 Nell Soto, Chair Hearing date: May 7, 2001 SB 1049 (Speier) as amended 5/2/01 FISCAL: NO '37 ACT: SAN MATEO COUNTY: "DOMESTIC PARTNER" SURVIVOR BENEFIT MADE OPTIONAL TO THE SAN MATEO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HISTORY : Sponsor: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Prior legislation: SB 1410 (Speier) 2000 Vetoed SUMMARY : Would amend the County Employees Retirement Act of 1937 ('37 Act) to permit the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution to provide that "domestic partners" of San Mateo county employees (as defined) will be eligible for the same survivor benefits now received by the spouses of eligible county employees who die either before or after retirement from county service. ANALYSIS : 1) Existing '37 Act law provides that: a) only spouses (husbands and wives) of eligible county employees are entitled to survivor benefits provided by the county retirement system when an eligible county employee dies either before or after retirement (if no spouse, minor children are entitled), b) basically, the survivor benefit for a non-service connected death is 60 percent of the retirement benefit the member was receiving (for a death after retirement), or was entitled to receive (for a death of an eligible member David Felderstein SB 1049 Date: 5/01/01 Page 1 before retirement). The 60 percent survivor benefit is received by the surviving spouse until his or her death. 2) This bill provides that: a) same sex domestic partners , or opposite sex domestic partners over age 62 of San Mateo County employees will be eligible for the same survivor benefits received by spouses of county employees, b) only domestic partners of county employees who meet the above criteria and for whom there has been an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership on file with San Mateo County for at least one year are eligible to receive survivor benefits, and c) this section will not take effect until adopted by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, and will only affect those employees who retire or die after the effective date. COMMENTS : 1) Blood relatives cannot be considered domestic partners under any circumstances. 2) Governor Davis vetoed a similar bill last session. In his veto message, the Governor stated, in pertinent part: "This bill would allow San Mateo County to?provide new domestic partner benefits using a definition of domestic partners that goes far beyond that of the State program. For these reasons I can not support this bill." The committee is advised that this bill , as amended 5/2/01, provides a definition of domestic partner that is consistent with existing law to try to satisfy to Governor's concerns in the above veto message. 3) SUPPORT : David Felderstein SB 1049 Date: 5/01/01 Page 2 California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO California Alliance for Pride and Equality (CAPE) 4) OPPOSITION : None to date. # # # # # David Felderstein SB 1049 Date: 5/01/01 Page 3