AB 822, as amended, Hall. Local government retirement plans.
Existing law requires local legislative bodies, before authorizing changes in public retirement plan benefits or other postemployment benefits, to secure the services of an actuary to provide a statement of the actuarial impact of the changes.
This bill would require, whenever a localbegin insert ordinance orend insert measure qualifies for the ballot that proposes to alter, replace, or eliminate the retirement benefit plan of employees of a local government entity, whether by initiative or legislative action, the governing body of the local government entity to secure the services of an independent actuary to provide a statement,begin insert
or a summary of the statement,end insert
not to exceed 500 words in length, of the actuarial impact of the proposed measure upon future annual costs of the retirement benefit plan, and to have this statement printed in the voter information portion of the sample ballot.begin delete The bill would
require, under certain circumstances, that the proponents of an initiative measure pay an additional filing fee to pay for the costs of the actuarial impact statement, which would be refunded if the measure is approved by the voters. The bill would require the governing body to make public at least 2 weeks prior to the election the future annual costs that will result from the changes to the retirement plan proposed by the measure.end delete The bill would require a specified notice regarding obtaining a copy of the measure to be printed in the voter information portion of the sample ballot, if the text of the measure is not printed on the ballot, nor in the voter information portion of the sample ballot.begin delete The bill would require the measure to be submitted to the voters only at a statewide general election held pursuant to existing law.end delete The requirements of the bill would apply to abegin delete charter city, charter city and county, or charter county.end deletebegin insert
city, including a charter city; a county, including a charter county; a city and county, including a charter city and county; a community college district; or a special district.end insert
By imposing new requirements on local governments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 9611 is added to the Elections Code, 2following Section 9610, to read:
(a) Whenever a localbegin insert ordinance orend insert measure qualifies
4for the ballot that proposes to alter, replace, or eliminate the
5retirement benefit plan of employees of a local government entity,
6whether by initiative or legislative action, the governing body of
7the local government entity shallbegin delete do all of the following:end deletebegin insert comply
8with the requirements of Section 7507 of the Government Code.end insert
9(1) Secure the services of an independent actuary to provide a
10statement, not to exceed 500 words in length, of the actuarial
11impact of the proposed measure upon future annual costs of the
12retirement benefit plan, including normal costs and any additional
13accrued liability.
P3 1(2) Make public at a public meeting, at
least two weeks prior
2to the election that the measure has qualified for, the future annual
3costs that will result from the changes to the retirement plan
4proposed by the measure.
5(b) The statement providedbegin insert by an actuaryend insert pursuant to paragraph
6(1) of subdivisionbegin delete (a)end deletebegin insert (b) of Section 7507 of the Government Code,
7or a summary of the statement, prepared by the actuary and not
8to exceed 500 words in length,end insert shall be printed in the voter
9information portion of the sample ballot preceding the arguments
10for and against the measure, if any.
11(c) If the entire text of the measure is not printed on the ballot,
12nor in the voter information portion of the sample ballot, there
13shall be printed immediately below thebegin delete independent actuarial begin insert statement, or summary of the statement required by
14analysis,end delete
15subdivision (b),end insert in no less than 10-point bold type, a legend
16substantially as follows:
17“The above statement is an independent actuarial analysis of
18Ordinance or Measure ____. If you desire a copy of the ordinance
19or measure,begin insert or the actuarial statement,end insert please call the elections
20official’s office at
(insert telephone number) and a copy will be
21mailed at no cost to you.”
22(d) If a measure described in this section qualifies for the ballot
23pursuant to an initiative petition described in Section 9101, 9102,
249201, or 9301, the proponents of the measure shall pay an
25additional filing fee to pay for the costs of the actuarial impact
26statement in an amount to be established by the local governing
27body, not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500). If the measure is
28adopted by the voters, the fee shall be refunded to the proponents.
29(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a measure
30described in this section that qualifies for the ballot shall be
31submitted to the voters
only at an established statewide general
32election held pursuant to Section 1200.
33(f) For the purpose of this section:
34(1) “Actuary” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 7507
35of the Government Code.
36(2) “Future annual costs” has the same meaning as set forth in
37Section 7507 of the Government Code.
38(3) “Local government entity” includes a city, county, city and
39county, school district, community college district, county board
40of education, and special district.
P4 1(g)
end delete
2begin insert(d)end insert The requirements of this section apply to abegin delete charter city, begin insert city, including a charter
3charter city and county, or charter county.end delete
4city; a county, including a charter county; a city and county,
5including a charter city and county; a community college district;
6or a special district.end insert
The Legislature finds and declares that the security of
8public moneys and the fiscal integrity of local governmental entities
9in this state, including charter cities and charter counties, have a
10direct impact on the long-term well-being of all residents of this
11state. Further, many local governments experiencing budgetary
12crises have difficulty providing sufficient public safety services
13and place additional burdens on resources of the state. Accordingly,
14ensuring an informed electorate with respect to the statewide
15integrity and security of government pension systems and ensuring
16the sufficiency of public safety services are matters of statewide
17concern and not a municipal affair, as that term is used in
Section
18
5 of Article XI of the California Constitution.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
20this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
21local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
22pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
234 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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