BILL NUMBER: AB 2673	CHAPTERED  07/22/08

	CHAPTER  197
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 22, 2008
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 22, 2008
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 2, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 5, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Feuer

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2008

   An act to amend Section 31780.2 of the Government Code, relating
to county employees' retirement.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2673, Feuer. County employees' retirement: death benefits.
   Existing law provides that registered domestic partners shall have
the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to
the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, as are
granted to and imposed upon spouses.
   The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 provides that any
death benefits, optional retirement allowances, or survivor's
allowances accorded to a spouse may be accorded to a domestic
partner.
   This bill would make the above provision of the County Employees
Retirement Law of 1937 inapplicable to any member whose death occurs
on or after January 1, 2009.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 31780.2 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   31780.2.  (a) Any benefits accorded to a spouse pursuant to this
article and Article 11 (commencing with Section 31760), Article 15.5
(commencing with Section 31841), Article 15.6 (commencing with
Section 31855), and Article 16 (commencing with Section 31861), or
any of them, may be accorded to a domestic partner, as defined in
Section 297 of the Family Code, who is registered with the Secretary
of State pursuant to Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 297) of
the Family Code. The county may also require the member and the
member's domestic partner to have a current Affidavit of Domestic
Partnership, in the form adopted by the county board of supervisors,
on file with the county for at least one year prior to the member's
retirement or death prior to retirement.
   (b) If a member described in subdivision (a) has a surviving
dependent child, the surviving dependent child shall receive the
death and survivor's allowance until 18 years of age or until
married, whichever occurs earlier, or until 22 years of age if
enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited educational
institution. When the member's surviving dependent child reaches 18
years of age or is no longer a dependent, whichever occurs earlier,
or reaches 22 years of age if enrolled as a full-time student in an
accredited educational institution, then the benefits accorded to a
spouse, as specified in subdivision (a), may be accorded to a
domestic partner pursuant to this section. However, if a surviving
dependent child elects to receive a lump-sum payment, the lump-sum
payment shall be shared among any surviving dependent children and
the domestic partner, pursuant to this section, in a proportional
manner.
   (c) This section is not operative unless and until the county
board of supervisors, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, makes
this section operative in the county. In a county of the 10th class,
as defined in Sections 28020 and 28031, the county board of
supervisors may implement the benefits described in this section as
determined through the collective bargaining process and based on
actuarial cost estimates.
   (d) This section shall not apply to any member whose death occurs
on or after January 1, 2009.