Amended in Assembly April 25, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 11, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 21, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1346

Introduced by Assembly Member Pan

February 22, 2013

An act to add Section 22896 to the Government Code, relating to postemployment health benefits.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1346, as amended, Pan. Postemployment health benefits: Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department: end delete begin insert District: end insert employer contributions.

Existing law requires the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System to administer the Public Employees’ Medical and Hospital Care Act. Existing law permits a contracting agency to elect to be subject to the act for its employees and annuitants, provided that the contracting agency and each employee or annuitant contribute a portion of the cost of providing the benefit coverage, as specified. Under this formulation, the employer contribution for the contracting agency begins at 10 years of service and reaches 100% of a specified amount when the employee attains 20 years of credited service, with certain exceptions. Existing law provides alternate formulations for specified contracting agencies.

This bill would provide an additional exception by requiring the employer contribution for postretirement health benefit coverage for an annuitant of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert who retires on or after the effective date of a memorandum related to employer contributions, to be based on a revised formula in which the employer contribution begins at 5 years of service, instead of 10 and would reach 100% of a specified amount if the annuitant attained 20 years of credited service, with certain exceptions. The bill would require that the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert provide to the board a notification of the agreement and any additional information requested by the board that the board deems necessary to implement the section. The bill would except from the formulation described annuitants who have retired for disability or who have retired for service with 20 or more years of service with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert , as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 22896 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

22896.  

(a)  Notwithstanding Section 22893, the percentage of
employer contribution payable for postretirement health benefits
for an employee of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete
begin insert District end insert subject to this section shall, except as provided in
subdivision (b), be based on the member’s completed years of
credited state service at retirement as shown in the following table:

 

Credited Years of Service	Percentage of Employer Contribution
5	25
6	30
7	35
8	40
9	45
10	50
11	55
12	60
13	65
14	70
15	75
16	80
17	85
18	90
19	95
20 or more	100

 

The application of this subdivision shall be subject to the
following:

(1) The employer contribution with respect to each annuitant
shall be determined pursuant to a memorandum of understanding
approved through a meet and confer process pursuant to the
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
3500) of Division 4 of Title 1) with any recognized employee
organization. The issue shall not be subject to the impasse
procedures set forth in Article 9 (commencing with Section 3548)
of Chapter 10.7 of Division 4 of Title 1.

(2) The credited service of an annuitant for the purpose of
determining the percentage of employer contributions applicable
under this section shall mean state service as defined in Section
20069, except that at least five years of service shall have been
performed entirely with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire
begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert .

(3) The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert shall
provide, in the manner prescribed by the board, a notification of
the agreement adopted pursuant to this section and any additional
information necessary to implement this section.

(4) The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert shall
certify to the board, in the case of employees not represented by
a bargaining unit, that there is not an applicable memorandum of
understanding.

(5) This section shall apply only to employees who retire for
service and whose retirement date is on or after the effective date
of the memorandum of understanding entered into as described in
this subdivision. This section is not applicable to any employee
who retired before the effective date of the memorandum of
understanding.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the contribution payable
by the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert shall be
equal to 100 percent of the amount established pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) on behalf of any annuitant who
either:

(1) Retired for disability.

(2) Retired for service with 20 or more years of service credit
entirely with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete
begin insert District end insert , regardless of the number of days after separation from
employment. The contribution payable by the Sacramento
Metropolitan Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert under this paragraph shall
be paid only if it is greater than, and made in lieu of, a contribution
payable to the annuitant by another employer under this part. The
board shall establish application procedures and eligibility criteria
to implement this paragraph.

(c) This section applies only to the Sacramento Metropolitan
Fire begin delete Department end delete begin insert District end insert , or its successor.