BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 996 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 20, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY Warren T. Furutani, Chair SB 996 (P.E.& R. Com.) - As Amended: March 26, 2012 SENATE VOTE : 39-0 SUBJECT : County Employees Retirement Law of 1937: heart trouble presumption. SUMMARY : Restates and clarifies existing County Employees' Retirement Law of 1937 ('37 Act) regarding the rebuttable presumption that heart trouble incurred by a safety member arises from the safety members employment. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides, under the '37 Act, a system of industrial death and disability benefits for safety officers and firefighters who are injured, die, or develop an illness directly related to the performance of their duties. 2)Requires that when a safety member, firefighter, or member in active law enforcement who has been employed for five or more years develops heart trouble, the heart trouble will be presumed to have arisen out of, and in the course of, the member's employment, therefore making the illness industrial and qualifying the member for related industrial benefits. 3)Establishes industrial causation presumptions for cancer, blood-borne infectious diseases, and illness due to exposure to biochemical substances for safety officers, and states that these presumptions may be rebutted by presenting evidence to the contrary, but unless rebutted, the retirement board must find that the illness was industrial. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : According to the sponsor, the appellate court ruled in Pellerin v. Kern County Employees' Retirement Association (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 1099 that Government Code Section 31720.5 creates a rebuttable presumption that a heart condition incurred SB 996 Page 2 by a safety employee arose out of the individual's employment. Following the Pellerin decision, there was some confusion among '37 Act county retirement system attorneys regarding the ability to rebut the heart presumption with other evidence. The purpose of this bill is to clarify existing law and make the statutory language regarding the heart presumption consistent with other presumptions within the '37 Act. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support State Association of County Retirement Systems (Sponsor) Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916) 319-3957