BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1739| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1739 Author: Lieu (D) Amended: As introduced Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/14/10 AYES: Correa, Ashburn, Corbett, Ducheny, Hollingsworth, Liu ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/13/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : County employees retirement: disability: military leave SOURCE : Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department DIGEST : This bill provides, in the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, non service-related death and disability benefits to active employee members and their survivors who are disabled or killed while on military leave and performing active military duty. ANALYSIS : Existing law provides non service-related death and disability benefits for Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) members, with at least five years of service, who become disabled or die while actively employed. This bill: CONTINUED AB 1739 Page 2 1.Extends non service-related disability benefits to active LACERA members who are disabled as a result of injury or illness incurred while on military leave and employed in active military duty. 2.Extends death benefits, including an ongoing monthly allowance, to the survivors of LACERA members who die as a result of injury or illness incurred while on military leave and employed in active military duty. 3.Provides these benefits regardless of the member's age or length of county service. 4.Defines active military duty within a branch of the armed forces by a reservist or member of the National Guard. 5.Makes implementation of these provisions dependent on a resolution by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors or the governing body of a LACERA district in the county, and allows the Board or governing body to repeal or amend the resolution at any time with regard to employees who have not been disabled or killed prior to the repeal or amendment. 6.Requires that a resolution making the provisions effective shall not create a vested right to benefits prior to a member's disability or death. Comments According to the author's office, "Current law does not provide adequate or consistent compensation to military reservists who have been permanently incapacitated during the performance of active military duty. AB 1739 enables Los Angeles County to waive the five year service minimum required to provide the incapacitated member, or the surviving spouse in the case of death, with the retired for non service-connected disability, or combined death benefit." FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/16/10) AB 1739 Page 3 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (source) Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs California Professional Firefighters Los Angeles Probation Officers' Union, AFSCME, Local 685 Orange County Employees Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, "Many members of our Department serve proudly and heroically in the United States Military, and we are very proud of these men and women. They sacrifice much by being away from family and friends and put in harm's way protecting our country. It is crucially important that we protect them and their families of one of these heroes is injured or killed while serving this country. It is the right thing to do to extend these disability and death benefit to our members. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, Norby, Skinner, Vacancy CPM:cm 6/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****