BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2473
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2473 (Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee)
As Amended August 14, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 15, 2014) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 19, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: P.E., R. & S.S.
SUMMARY : Conforms sections of the County Employees Retirement Law
of 1937 ('37 Act) to provisions of the Internal Revenue Code in
order to ensure compliance with federal tax law.
The Senate amendments make technical and clarifying changes to this
bill.
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 systems
under the '37 Act.
2)Establishes comprehensive public employee pension reform through
enactment of the Public Employee Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) that
apply to all public employers and public pension plans on and
after January 1, 2013, excluding the University of California and
charter cities and counties that do not participate in a
retirement system governed by state statute.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 2473 is sponsored by the
State Association of County Retirement Systems (SACRS). All 20
county employee retirement systems operating under the '37 Act are
tax-qualified plans, as determined by the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS). Tax-qualified status is the legal mechanism that allows
retirement contributions made by employees and employers, and the
earnings on those contributions, to accrue to the benefit of the
retirement system members on a tax-deferred basis.
AB 2473
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"This important technical bill conforms sections of the '37 Act to
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code in order to ensure that all
20 retirement systems operating under the '37 Act are governed by
state law consistent with federal tax law requirements governing
retirement plans."
According to the sponsor of the bill, the State Administration of
County Retirement Systems, "The provisions of this bill represent
the work product of 3 years of discussions with the IRS and '37 Act
county retirement systems to identify the elements of California law
in need of conformity and the specific language required. The
Orange County Employees Retirement System engaged the IRS on a
formal basis to initiate the collaborative process to bring the '37
Act into federal tax law compliance. Since the tax conformity
process began, the PEPRA was enacted in 2012, where some PEPRA
provisions now also require federal tax law conformity."
There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957 FN:
0004814