BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2664
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2664 (Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security
Committee)
As Amended May 9, 2012
Majority vote
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES 6-0
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|Ayes:|Pan, Mansoor, Allen, | | |
| |Harkey, Ma, Wieckowski | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes various noncontroversial changes to the laws
governing retirement systems established pursuant to the County
Employees' Retirement Law of 1937 ('37 Act). Specifically, this
bill :
1)Allows the retirement boards of '37 Act retirement systems to
adopt regulations allowing for the use and acceptance of a
member's electronic signature with the same force and effect
as a signed, valid original document.
2)Authorizes the Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement
Association (LACERA) to adjust retirement payments due to
errors or omissions in the same manner as the California
Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).
3)Establishes the County Retirement System Dental Care Program
(Program) to provide dental care benefits to county and
district retirees, their survivors, and eligible dependents of
'37 Act retirement systems that elect to offer the Program. A
retiree is responsible for the full cost of the dental care
premium and counties electing to participate in the Program
may contract with a third party administrator to provide the
dental care.
4)Specifies that the dental benefits may be revised or
discontinued at any time.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that in any transaction in which a public entity is a
party, and a signature is required, any party may affix a
AB 2664
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digital signature that complies with certain requirements;
defines digital signatures; and, requires that the digital
signature conforms with regulations of the Secretary of State.
2)Authorizes, pursuant to AB 232 (Fletcher and Hill), Chapter
90, Statutes of 2009, the California State Teachers'
Retirement System (CalSTRS) to develop and implement a process
for accepting electronic signatures from members, while
maintaining the same level of security as required by existing
CalSTRS law.
3)Establishes the manner in which CalPERS may adjust retirement
payments due to errors or omissions.
4)Establishes, pursuant to AB 1288 (Hayashi), Chapter 331,
Statutes of 2007, the County Retirement System Vision Care
Program to provide vision care benefits to '37 Act retirees,
their survivors, and eligible dependents.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the sponsor, "A county retirement system
may accept a member's digital signature with the same force and
effect as a manual signature but only if it meets the
requirements of Section 16.5 of the Government Code and
regulations adopted by the Secretary of State. Compliance with
16.5 and regulations adopted thereunder is so costly and
burdensome as to render it impractical for use by county
retirement systems and their members. LACERA significantly
limits the use of electronic signatures as a result."
According to LACERA, while existing law authorizes '37 Act
boards of retirement to reduce the monthly retirement benefits
of members who fraudulently report compensation or overstate
earnings which result in improper increases in their county
pensions, the '37 Act does not contain a statutory framework,
similar to that contained in the Public Employees' Retirement
Law (PERL), to correct errors and omissions. They therefore
recommend, that specific sections be added to the '37 Act to
mirror that of PERL in order to provide LACERA with the
authority and consistent statutory limitations in which to
correct these errors and omissions.
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There are 20 '37 Act counties, some of which provide dental
plans for their retirees. Based upon surveys of counties not
offering dental coverage for retirees, the State Association of
Counties (SACRS) estimates that this bill would extend dental
coverage to 18,000 retirees and spouses.
Currently, individuals without sufficient health care coverage
must reassign their limited retirement dollars from other
activities to cover the increasing costs of health care. That
logic leads to individuals making decisions to drop personal
vision and dental care programs to cover general health care
costs.
For county retirees, the legislature addressed this issue for
vision care with AB 1288 which allowed the '37 Act counties to
pool its eligible retirees to create a low cost retiree vision
care plan. The success of the vision care plan has led to
retirees requesting a similar plan for dental benefits.
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957
FN: 0003535