BILL NUMBER: AB 89 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 9, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hill
JANUARY 6, 2011
An act to amend Section 31485.10 of, and to add Section
7503.5 to, of the Government Code, relating to
county employees' retirement, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 89, as amended, Hill. Retirement: public employees.
County employees' retirement.
(1) Existing law establishes the Public Employees' Retirement
System and the State Teachers' Retirement System for the purpose of
providing pension benefits to their members. Existing law also
establishes the Judges' Retirement System II which provides pension
benefits to elected judges and the Legislators' Retirement System
which provides pension benefits to elective officers of the state
other than judges and to legislative statutory officers. The County
Employees Retirement Law of 1937 authorizes counties, and districts
to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions in order
to provide pension benefits to employees.
This bill would specify that, in addition to any other benefit
limitations prescribed by law, for the purposes of determining a
retirement benefit paid to a person who first becomes a member of a
public retirement system on or after January 1, 2012, to the extent
that the benefits payable under the system are subject to the
compensation limits prescribed by a specified provision of the
Internal Revenue Code, the maximum salary, compensation, or payrate
taken into account under the plan for any year shall not exceed the
amount permitted to be taken into account under that provision of
federal law. The bill would also prohibit a public employer from
making contributions to any qualified public retirement plan based on
any portion of compensation that exceeds the amount specified in
that federal provision.
(2)
The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 authorizes
counties and districts to establish retirement
systems pursuant to its provisions in order to provide pension
benefits to employees. The County Employees Retirement Law of
1937 authorizes the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo
to provide any retirement benefits for some, but not all, general
members or safety members of a county. The law authorizes a
resolution adopted pursuant to these provisions to require members to
pay all or part of the contributions by a member or employer, or
both, that would have been required if specified provisions relating
to the calculation of retirement benefits, as adopted by the board or
governing body, had been in effect during the period of time
designated in the resolution.
This bill would authorize a resolution adopted pursuant to the
provisions described above to require safety members hired on and
after the effective date of this measure to pay all or part of the
contributions by a member or employer, or both. The bill would
require in this instance that payment by a safety member would become
part of the accumulated contributions of the safety member. The bill
would specify, for those safety members who are represented by a
bargaining unit, that the payment requirement and any changes to it
are not would not be effective until
approved in a memorandum of understanding executed by the board of
supervisors and the employee representatives.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 7503.5 is added to the
Government Code, to read:
7503.5. (a) In addition to any other benefit limitations
prescribed by law, for the purposes of determining a retirement
benefit paid to a person who first becomes a member of a public
retirement system on or after January 1, 2012, to the extent the
benefits payable under the system are subject to the compensation
limits prescribed by Section 401(a)(17) of Title 26 of the United
States Code, the maximum salary, compensation, or payrate taken into
account under the plan for any year shall not exceed the amount
permitted to be taken into account under Section 401(a)(17) of Title
26 of the United States Code, or its successor.
(b) A public employer shall not make employer contributions to any
qualified public retirement plan or plans on behalf of an employee
who first becomes a member of the retirement system on or after
January 1, 2012, based on that portion of the amount of total
compensation that exceeds the amount specified in Section 401(a)(17)
of Title 26 of the United States Code, or its successor.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 31485.10
of the Government Code is amended to read:
31485.10. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in a
county of the 10th class, as defined in Sections 28020 and 28031, the
board of supervisors may, by resolution, ordinance, contract, or
contract amendment under this chapter, provide any retirement
benefits for some, but not all, general members or safety members of
a county.
(b) The resolution, ordinance, contract, or contract amendment
described in subdivision (a) may provide a different formula for
calculation of retirement benefits, by making any section of this
chapter applicable to any subgroup of members within a membership
classification, including, but not limited to, bargaining units, or
unrepresented groups, applicable to service credit earned on and
after the date specified in the resolution, which date may be earlier
than the date the resolution is adopted.
(c) A resolution adopted pursuant to this section may require
members to pay all or part of the contributions by a member or
employer, or both, that would have been required if the section or
sections specified in subdivision (b), as adopted by the board or
governing body, had been in effect during the period of time
designated in the resolution. The payment by a member shall become
part of the accumulated contributions of the member. For those
members who are represented by a bargaining unit, the payment
requirement shall be approved in a memorandum of understanding
executed by the board of supervisors and the employee
representatives.
(d) A resolution adopted pursuant to this section may require
safety members hired on and after the effective date of the act
adding this subdivision to pay all or part of the contributions by a
member or employer, or both. The payment by a safety member shall
become part of the accumulated contributions of the safety member.
For those safety members who are represented by a bargaining unit,
the payment requirement and any changes to the payment requirement
shall not be effective until approved in a memorandum of
understanding executed by the board of supervisors and the employee
representatives.
(e) This section shall only apply to members who retire on or
after the effective date of the resolution described in subdivision
(a) or (b).
(f) This section shall not become operative unless and until the
county board of supervisors, by resolution adopted by a majority
vote, makes this section operative in the county.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
In order to implement the terms of a negotiated memorandum of
understanding, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.