AB 2476, as amended, Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security. Public employees’ retirement.
Existing law, the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) establishes various limits on retirement benefits generally applicable to a public employee retirement system, except as specified, and among other things, prescribes limits on service after retirement without reinstatement into the applicable retirement system. Under PEPRA, a retired person is not eligible to be employed for a period of 180 days following the date of retirement unless he or she meets specified requirements, including a requirement that the state employer certifies the nature of the employment and that the appointment is necessary to fill a critically needed state employment position before 180 days have passed and the appointment has been approved by the Department of Human Resources.
This bill would instead provide, for purposes of that
requirement, that either the Senate Committee on Rules or the Assembly Rulesbegin delete Committee,end deletebegin insert Committee orend insert the Trustees of the California Statebegin delete University, or the Administrative Office of the Courtsend deletebegin insert Universityend insert makes those certifications and approvals forbegin delete legislative,end deletebegin insert legislative andend insert California Statebegin delete University, and judicialend deletebegin insert
Universityend insert employees, respectively, instead of the Department of Human Resources.
PEPRA requires a public employee, including one who is elected or appointed to a public office, who is convicted of any state or federal felony for conduct arising out of, or in the performance of, his or her official duties in pursuit of the office or appointment, or in connection with obtaining salary, disability retirement, service retirement, or other benefits, to forfeit right, and benefits earned or accrued from the earliest date of the commission of the felony to the forfeiture date, as specified.
This bill would provide, instead, that a member of the retirement system who is convicted, as described above, would forfeit those rights and benefits.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 7522.56 of the Government Code is
2amended to read:
(a) This section shall apply to any person who is
4receiving a pension benefit from a public retirement system and
5shall supersede any other provision in conflict with this section.
6(b) A retired person shall not serve, be employed by, or be
7employed through a contract directly by, a public employer in the
8same public retirement system from which the retiree receives the
9benefit without reinstatement from retirement, except as permitted
10by this section.
11(c) A person who retires from a public employer may serve
12without reinstatement from retirement or loss or interruption of
13benefits provided by the retirement system upon
appointment by
14the appointing power of a public employer either during an
15
emergency to prevent stoppage of public business or because the
16retired person has skills needed to perform work of limited
17duration.
18(d) Appointments of the person authorized under this section
19shall not exceed a total for all employers in that public retirement
20system of 960 hours or other equivalent limit, in a calendar or
P3 1fiscal year, depending on the administrator of the system. The rate
2of pay for the employment shall not be less than the minimum,
3nor exceed the maximum, paid by the employer to other employees
4performing comparable duties, divided by 173.333 to equal an
5hourly rate. A retired person whose employment without
6reinstatement is authorized by this section shall acquire no service
7credit or retirement rights under this section with respect to the
8employment unless he or she reinstates from retirement.
9(e) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), any retired person shall
10not be eligible to serve or be employed by a public employer if,
11during the 12-month period prior to an appointment described in
12this section, the retired person received any unemployment
13insurance compensation arising out of prior employment subject
14to this section with a public employer. A retiree shall certify in
15writing to the employer upon accepting an offer of employment
16that he or she is in compliance with this requirement.
17(2) A retired person who accepts an appointment after receiving
18unemployment insurance compensation as described in this
19subdivision shall terminate that employment on the last day of the
20current pay period and shall not be eligible for reappointment
21subject to this
section for a period of 12 months following the last
22day of employment.
23(f) A retired person shall not be eligible to be employed pursuant
24to this section for a period of 180 days following the date of
25retirement unless he or she meets one of the following conditions:
26(1) The employer certifies the nature of the employment and
27that the appointment is necessary to fill a critically needed position
28before 180 days have passed and the appointment has been
29approved by the governing body of the employer in a public
30meeting. The appointment may not be placed on a consent calendar.
31(2) (A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, for state
32employees, the state employer certifies the nature of the
33employment
and that the appointment is necessary to fill a critically
34needed state employment position before 180 days have passed
35
and the appointment has been approved by the Department of
36Human Resources. The department may establish a process to
37delegate appointing authority to individual state agencies, but shall
38audit the process to determine if abuses of the system occur. If
39necessary, the department may assume an agency’s appointing
P4 1authority for retired workers and may charge the department an
2appropriate amount for administering that authority.
3(B) For legislative employees, the Senate Committee on Rules
4or the Assembly Rules Committee certifies the nature of the
5employment and that the appointment is necessary to fill a critically
6needed position before 180 days have passed and approves the
7appointment in a public meeting. The appointment may not be
8placed on a consent calendar.
9(C) For employees of the California State University, the
10Trustees of the California State University certifies the nature of
11the employment and that the appointment is necessary to fill a
12critically needed position before 180 days have passed and
13approves the appointment in a public meeting. The appointment
14may not be placed on a consent calendar.
15(D) For judicial employees, the Administrative Office of the
16Courts certifies the nature of the employment and that the
17appointment is necessary to fill a critically needed position before
18180 days have passed and approves the appointment in a public
19meeting. The appointment may not be placed on a consent calendar.
20(3) The retiree is eligible to participate in the Faculty Early
21Retirement Program pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement
22with the California State University that existed prior to January
231, 2013, or has been included in subsequent agreements.
24(4) The retiree is a public safety officer or firefighter hired to
25perform a function or functions regularly performed by a public
26safety officer or firefighter.
27(g) A retired person who accepted a retirement incentive upon
28retirement shall not be eligible to be employed pursuant to this
29section for a period of 180 days following the date of retirement
30and subdivision (f) shall not apply.
31(h) This section shall not
apply to a person who is retired from
32the State Teachers’ Retirement System, and who is subject to
33Section 24214, 24214.5, or 26812 of the Education Code.
34(i) This section shall not apply to (1) a subordinate judicial
35officer whose position, upon retirement, is converted to a judgeship
36pursuant to Section 69615, and he or she returns to work in the
37converted position, and the employer is a trial court, or (2) a retiree
38who takes office as a judge of a court of record pursuant to Article
39VI of the California Constitution or a retiree of the Judges’
P5 1Retirement System or the Judges’ Retirement System II who is
2appointed to serve as a retired judge.
Section 7522.72 of the Government Code is amended
4to read:
(a) This section shall apply to a public employee first
6employed by a public employer or first elected or appointed to an
7office before January 1, 2013, and, on and after that date, Section
87522.70 shall not apply.
9(b) (1) If a public employee is convicted by a state or federal
10trial court of any felony under state or federal law for conduct
11arising out of or in the performance of his or her official duties, in
12pursuit of the office or appointment, or in connection with
13obtaining salary, disability retirement, service retirement, or other
14benefits, he or she shall forfeit all accrued rights and benefits in
15any public retirement system in which he or she is a member to
16the
extent provided in subdivision (c) and shall not accrue further
17
benefits in that public retirement system, effective on the date of
18the conviction.
19(2) If a public employee who has contact with children as part
20of his or her official duties is convicted of a felony that was
21committed within the scope of his or her official duties against or
22involving a child who he or she has contact with as part of his or
23her official duties, he or she shall forfeit all accrued rights and
24benefits in any public retirement system in which he or she is a
25member to the extent provided in subdivision (c) and shall not
26accrue further benefits in that public retirement system, effective
27on the date of the conviction.
28(c) (1) A member shall forfeit all the rights and benefits earned
29or accrued from the earliest date of the commission
of any felony
30described in subdivision (b) to the forfeiture date, inclusive. The
31rights and benefits shall remain forfeited notwithstanding any
32reduction in sentence or expungement of the conviction following
33the date of the member’s conviction. Rights and benefits
34attributable to service performed prior to the date of the first
35commission of the felony for which the member was convicted
36shall not be forfeited as a result of this section.
37(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “forfeiture date” means
38the date of the conviction.
39(d) (1) Any contributions to the public retirement system made
40by the public employee described in subdivision (b) on or after
P6 1the earliest date of the commission of any felony described in
2subdivision (b) shall be returned,
without interest, to the public
3employee upon the occurrence of a distribution event unless
4otherwise ordered by a court or determined by the pension
5administrator.
6(2) Any funds returned to the public employee pursuant to
7subdivision (d) shall be disbursed by electronic funds transfer to
8an account of the public employee, in a manner conforming with
9the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, and the public
10retirement system shall notify the court and the district attorney
11at least three business days before that disbursement of funds.
12(3) For the purposes of this subdivision, a “distribution event”
13means any of the following:
14(A) Separation from employment.
15(B) Death of the member.
16(C) Retirement of the member.
17(e) (1) Upon conviction, a public employee as described in
18subdivision (b) and the prosecuting agency shall notify the public
19employer who employed the public employee at the time of the
20commission of the felony within 60 days of the felony conviction
21of all of the following information:
22(A) The date of conviction.
23(B) The date of the first known commission of the felony.
24(2) The operation of this section is not dependent upon the
25performance of the notification obligations specified in this
26subdivision.
27(f) The public employer that employs or employed a public
28employee described in subdivision (b) and that public employee
29shall each notify the public retirement system in which the public
30employee is a member of that public employee’s conviction within
3190 days of the conviction. The operation of this section is not
32dependent upon the performance of the notification obligations
33specified in this subdivision.
34(g) A public retirement system may assess a public employer a
35reasonable amount to reimburse the cost of audit, adjustment, or
36correction, if it determines that the public employer failed to
37comply with this section.
38(h) If a public employee’s conviction is reversed and that
39decision is final, the employee shall be
entitled to do either of the
40following:
P7 1(1) Recover the forfeited rights and benefits as adjusted for the
2contributions received pursuant to subdivision (d).
3(2) Redeposit those contributions and interest that would have
4accrued during the forfeiture period, as determined by the system
5actuary, and then recover the full amount of the forfeited rights
6and benefits.
7(i) The forfeiture of rights and benefits provided in this section,
8with respect to judges, are in addition to and supplement the
9forfeitures and other requirements provided in Section 75033.2,
1075062, 75526, or 75563. If there is a conflict between this section
11and Section 75033.2, 75062, 75526, or 75563, the provisions that
12result in the greatest
forfeiture or provide the most stringent
13procedural requirements to the claim of a judge shall apply.
14(j) A public employee first employed by a public employer or
15first elected or appointed to an office on or after January 1, 2013,
16shall be subject to Section 7522.74.
Section 7522.74 of the Government Code is amended
18to read:
(a) This section shall apply to a public employee first
20employed by a public employer or first elected or appointed to an
21office on or after January 1, 2013, and on and after that date,
22Section 7522.70 shall not apply.
23(b) (1) If a public employee is convicted by a state or federal
24trial court of any felony under state or federal law for conduct
25arising out of or in the performance of his or her official duties, in
26pursuit of the office or appointment, or in connection with
27obtaining salary, disability retirement, service retirement, or other
28benefits, he or she shall forfeit all accrued rights and benefits in
29any public retirement system in which he or she is a
member to
30the extent provided in subdivision (c) and shall not accrue further
31
benefits in that public retirement system, effective on the date of
32the conviction.
33(2) If a public employee who has contact with children as part
34of his or her official duties is convicted of a felony that was
35committed within the scope of his or her official duties against or
36involving a child who he or she has contact with as part of his or
37her official duties, he or she shall forfeit all accrued rights and
38benefits in any public retirement system in which he or she is a
39member to the extent provided in subdivision (c) and shall not
P8 1accrue further benefits in that public retirement system, effective
2on the date of the conviction.
3(c) (1) A member shall forfeit all the rights and benefits earned
4or accrued from the earliest date of the commission
of any felony
5described in subdivision (b) to the forfeiture date, inclusive. The
6rights and benefits shall remain forfeited notwithstanding any
7reduction in sentence or expungement of the conviction following
8the date of the member’s conviction. Rights and benefits
9attributable to service performed prior to the date of the first
10commission of the felony for which the member was convicted
11shall not be forfeited as a result of this section.
12(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “forfeiture date” means
13the date of the conviction.
14(d) (1) Any contributions to the public retirement system made
15by the public employee described in subdivision (b) on or after
16the earliest date of the commission of any felony described in
17subdivision (b) shall be returned, without
interest, to the public
18employee upon the occurrence of a distribution event unless
19otherwise ordered by a court or determined by the pension
20administrator.
21(2) Any funds returned to the public employee pursuant to
22subdivision (d) shall be disbursed by electronic funds transfer to
23an account of the public employee, in a manner conforming with
24the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, and the public
25retirement system shall notify the court and the district attorney
26at least three business days before that disbursement of funds.
27(3) For the purposes of this subdivision, a “distribution event”
28means any of the following:
29(A) Separation from employment.
30(B) Death of the member.
31(C) Retirement of the member.
32(e) (1) Upon conviction, a public employee as described in
33subdivision (b) and the prosecuting agency shall notify the public
34employer who employed the public employee at the time of the
35commission of the felony within 60 days of the felony conviction
36of all of the following information:
37(A) The date of conviction.
38(B) The date of the first known commission of the felony.
P9 1(2) The operation of this section is not dependent upon the
2performance of the notification obligations specified in this
3subdivision.
4(f) The public employer that employs or employed a public
5employee described in subdivision (b) and that public employee
6shall each notify the public retirement system in which the public
7employee is a member of that public employee’s conviction within
890 days of the conviction. The operation of this section is not
9dependent upon the performance of the notification obligations
10specified in this subdivision.
11(g) A public retirement system may assess a public employer a
12reasonable amount to reimburse the cost of audit, adjustment, or
13correction, if it determines that the public employer failed to
14comply with this section.
15(h) If a public employee’s conviction is reversed and that
16decision is final, the employee shall be
entitled to do either of the
17following:
18(1) Recover the forfeited rights and benefits as adjusted for the
19contributions received pursuant to subdivision (d).
20(2) Redeposit those contributions and interest that would have
21accrued during the forfeiture period, as determined by the system
22actuary, and then recover the full amount of the forfeited rights
23and benefits.
24(i) The forfeiture of rights and benefits provided in this section,
25with respect to judges, are in addition to and supplement the
26forfeitures and other requirements provided in Section 75033.2,
2775062, 75526, or 75563. If there is a conflict between this section
28and Section 75033.2, 75062, 75526, or 75563, the provisions that
29result in the greatest
forfeiture or provide the most stringent
30procedural requirements to the claim of a judge shall apply.
31(j) A public employee first employed by a public employer or
32first elected or appointed to an office before January 1, 2013, shall
33be subject to Section 7522.72.
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