BILL NUMBER: AB 1587 CHAPTERED 10/12/03 CHAPTER 852 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 12, 2003 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 11, 2003 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2003 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2003 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2003 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security (Negrete McLeod (Chair), Levine (Vice Chair), Chan, Correa, Kehoe, and Laird) FEBRUARY 21, 2003 An act to amend Sections 31520.1 and 31520.5 of, and to add Section 31485.9 to the Government Code, relating to local public employees' retirement. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1587, Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security. Local public employees' retirement: benefits. (1) The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 authorizes counties and districts to adopt specified retirement benefits for general members of the county's or district's retirement system and to adopt specified corresponding contribution rates or to adopt a single rate of contribution, as specified. This bill would prohibit the adoption of any retirement benefits for some, but not all, general members or for any subgroup, as specified. The bill would also authorize a county or district to adopt a single contribution rate for all persons subject to the same benefit formula after that formula is adopted. (2) The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 sets forth the membership composition requirements for the board of retirement of counties subject to certain provisions regarding safety members, and requires that the board consist of 9 members and one alternate member. This bill would revise the provisions regarding the selection of an alternate member and the 8th member of the retirement board. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 31485.9 is added to the Government Code, to read: 31485.9. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500) of Division 4 of Title 1, no resolution, ordinance, contract, or contract amendment under this chapter adopted on or after January 1, 2004, may provide any retirement benefits for some, but not all, general members of a county or district. (b) No resolution, ordinance, contract, or contract amendment under this chapter adopted on or after January 1, 2004, may provide different retirement benefits for any subgroup of general members within a membership classification, including, but not limited to, bargaining units or unrepresented groups, unless benefits provided by statute for members hired on or after the date specified in the resolution are adopted by the county or district governing board, by resolution adopted by majority vote, pursuant to a memorandum of understanding made under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500) of Division 4 of Title 2). All nonrepresented employees within similar job classifications as employees in a bargaining unit subject to a memorandum of understanding, or supervisors and managers thereof, shall be subject to the same formula for the calculation of retirement benefits applicable to the employees in the bargaining unit. No retirement contract amendment may be imposed by the employer in absence of a memorandum of understanding under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. (c) This section does not preclude changing membership classification from one membership classification to another membership classification. SEC. 2. Section 31520.1 of the Government Code is amended to read: 31520.1. In any county subject to Articles 6.8 (commencing with Section 31639) and 7.5 (commencing with Section 31662.2), the board of retirement shall consist of nine members and one alternate, one of whom shall be the county treasurer. The second and third members of the board shall be members of the association, other than safety members, elected by those members within 30 days after the retirement system becomes operative in a manner determined by the board of supervisors. The fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth members shall be qualified electors of the county who are not connected with the county government in any capacity, except one may be a supervisor, and shall be appointed by the board of supervisors. A supervisor appointed as a member of the retirement board may not serve beyond his or her term of office as supervisor. The seventh member shall be a safety member of the association elected by the safety members. The eighth member shall be a retired member elected by the retired members of the association in a manner to be determined by the board of supervisors. The alternate member shall be that candidate, if any, for the seventh member from the group under Section 31470.2 or 31470.4, or any other eligible safety member in a county if there is no eligible candidate from the groups under Sections 31470.2 and 31470.4, which is not represented by a board member who received the highest number of votes of all candidates in that group. If there is no eligible candidate there may not be an alternate member. The first person chosen as the second and fourth members shall serve for a term of two years beginning with the date the system becomes operative, the third and fifth members shall serve for a term of three years beginning with that date, and the sixth, seventh and alternate members shall serve for a term of two years beginning January 1, 1952, or the date on which a retirement system established by this chapter becomes operative, whichever is the later. The eighth and ninth members shall take office as soon as practicable for an initial term to expire concurrent with the expiration of the longest remaining term of an elected member. Thereafter, the terms of office of the elected and appointed members and alternate are three years. The alternate member provided for by this section shall vote as a member of the board only if the second, third, seventh, or eighth member is absent from a board meeting for any cause, or if there is a vacancy with respect to the second, third, seventh, or eighth member, the alternate member shall fill the vacancy until a successor qualifies. The alternate shall sit on the board in place of the seventh member if a member of the same service is before the board for determination of his or her retirement. The amendments to this section during the 1972 Regular Session do not affect the continuation on the board of retired members appointed by the board of supervisors until the expiration of the term for which they were appointed. SEC. 3. Section 31520.5 of the Government Code is amended to read: 31520.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 31520.1, in any county subject to Articles 6.8 (commencing with Section 31639) and 7.5 (commencing with Section 31662.2), the board of retirement may, by majority vote, appoint, from a list of nominees submitted by a qualified retired organization, an alternate retired member to the office of the eighth member, who shall serve until the expiration of the current term of the current eighth member. Thereafter, the alternate retired member shall be elected separately by the retired members of the association in the same manner and at the same time as the eighth member is elected. An organization shall be deemed to be a "qualified retiree organization" for purposes of this subdivision if a majority of the members of the organization are retired members of the system. (b) The term of office of the alternate retired member shall run concurrently with the term of office of the eighth member. The alternate retired member shall vote as a member of the board only in the event the eighth member is absent from a board meeting for any cause. If there is a vacancy with respect to the eighth member, the alternate retired member shall fill that vacancy until a successor qualifies. The alternate retired member shall be entitled to the same compensation as the eighth member only if the alternate retired member is present and acting for the eighth member during the entire meeting. (c) If this section is made applicable in any county, by the appointment of an alternate eighth member, the alternate safety member may not sit and act for the eighth member.