BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1519
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1519 (Wieckowski)
As Amended March 6, 2012
Majority vote
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES 5-0
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|Ayes:|Furutani, Mansoor, Allen, | | |
| |Ma, Wieckowski | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the boards of retirement or investments for
the 20 retirement systems established pursuant to the County
Employees' Retirement Law of 1937 ('37 Act) to adopt a policy
for providing board member education, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a '37 Act board of retirement or investments to
establish a policy for providing education for board members.
2)Requires the policy to include, at a minimum, the following:
a) Appropriate topics for education;
b) A process for determining whether or not a program,
training, or educational session qualifies as board member
education;
c) A minimum requirement of 24 hours of education within
the first two years of becoming a board member and for
every subsequent two year period the person remains on the
board; and,
d) Maintaining a record of board member compliance with the
policy and to post the policy, along with information on
board member compliance, on the retirement system's
Internet Web site.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the '37 Act, which provides for retirement systems
for county and district employees in those counties adopting
its provisions. Currently 20 counties operate retirement
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systems under the '37 Act.
2)Sets forth the composition of the nine-member board of
retirement for any '37 Act county retirement system as
follows:
a) The county treasurer;
b) Two general (non-safety) members elected by the general
members of the system (2nd and 3rd members);
c) Four members who are qualified electors not in any way
connected with county government, except one may be a
county supervisor, appointed by the board of supervisors
(4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th members);
d) One safety member elected by the safety members of the
system (7th member); and,
e) One retired member elected by the retired members of the
system (8th member).
3)Allows, in any '37 Act county in which the assets of the
retirement system exceed $800 million, the board of
supervisors to establish a board of investments which is
responsible for all investment of the retirement system. The
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association is
currently the only county with a board of investment.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, the trustees of a '37 Act
retirement system are, "?charged with administering the
retirement benefits of county employees, adjudicating disability
and retirement compensation disputes that may arise between the
county and its employees, and making sound investment decisions
to ensure the long-term financial stability of the county
retirement system.
"Despite the important decisions that trustees are required to
perform, under current law, there are not specific educational
or training standards that a retirement board trustee must meet.
Now more than ever, county retirement systems need the most
professional and well trained people making investment
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decisions. Most investment professionals who already possess
the knowledge and expertise that greatly benefit retirement
boards choose not to serve on county retirement boards because
of existing conflict of interest laws. Therefore, it is
important for trustees who do not work in the financial and
investment world to gain as much knowledge and training about
duties they must perform."
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957
FN: 0003210