BILL NUMBER: SB 39 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 5, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 7, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 21, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Senator De León
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
John A. Pérez )
DECEMBER 5, 2012
An act to add Section 53244 to the Government Code, relating to
local government, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 39, as amended, Senator De León. Local agencies: public
officers: claims and liability.
(1) Existing law provides for the governance of local agencies and
specifically prescribes the rights and duties of their officers and
employees. Existing law authorizes local agencies to establish
retirement systems for the provision of pension benefits to officers
and employees of the agencies and commits the administration of those
systems to retirement boards. Existing law establishes a process for
making claims on local agencies and excepts from that process
applications for money or benefits from a public pension or
retirement system. Existing law, the California Public Employees'
Pension Reform Act of 2013, requires the forfeiture of specified
retirement benefits by an elected public o fficer or a
public employee, as defined, if that officer or employee is convicted
of a felony for conduct arising out of, or in the
performance of, his or her official duties.
This bill would limit and specify the remedies available
to require the forfeiture of a contractual, common
law, constitutional, or statutory claim against a local public agency
employer to retirement or pension rights or benefits, as specified,
by a local public officer who exercised discretionary authority
and who was convicted of a felony for conduct arising out of, or in
the performance of, his or her official duties, and who
believes that he or she is entitled to a claim against his or her
employer for the funding of retirement benefits, however
characterized, that have been disallowed by a public retirement
system. The bill would specify the claims to which it would apply
duties . The bill would also make a statement of
findings.
(2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares that local public
agencies need protection from disgraced and avaricious public
officials who, following conviction for crimes arising out of the
performance of their official duties, continue to abuse the
public trust seek unfair benefits at public expense
by asserting a claim that their former employers owe them the
value of pension benefits benefits,
including benefits that the public retirement
systems charged with administration of those benefits have rightfully
disallowed.
SEC. 2. Section 53244 is added to the Government Code, to read:
53244. (a) A local public officer, as defined in subdivision (b),
who believes that he or she is entitled to claim, from a
local public agency employer, for funding of retirement benefits that
have been disallowed by a public retirement system, however those
benefits may be characterized, including, but not limited to, as lost
compensation, may only pursue that claim through the administrative
process and appeal procedure available under the applicable public
retirement system. The local public agency employer shall only be
responsible for amounts awarded to the local public officer as
provided in this subdivision. is convicted by a state
or federal trial court of any felony under state or federal law for
conduct arising out of, or in the performance of, his or her official
duties shall forfeit any contract right or other common law,
constitutional, or statutory claim against a local public agency
employer to retirement or pension rights or benefits, however those
benefits may be characterized, including lost compensation, other
than the accrued rights and benefits to which he or she may be
entitled under any public retirement system in which he or she is a
member. The forfeiture provided by this section shall be in addition
to, and independent of, any forfeiture of public retirement system
rights and benefits pursuant to Section 7522.70, 7522.72, or 7522.74
.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "local public officer" means
a person, either elected or appointed, with all of the
following characteristics: who exercised
discretionary, executive authority in his or her employment.
(1) The person exercised discretionary, executive authority in his
or her employment.
(2) The person was convicted of a felony for conduct arising out
of, or in the performance of, his or her official duties.
(3)
(c) This section shall apply to any claim filed prior
to January 1, 2014 the effective date of the
act enacting this section , and still pending on that date, and
any claim commenced after that date.
(d) Upon conviction, a local public officer as described in
subdivision (a), and the prosecuting agency shall each notify the
public employer who employed the local public officer at the time of
the commission of the felony within 60 days of the felony conviction.
The operation of this section is not dependent upon the performance
of the notification required by this subdivision.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to protect the public from local public officers who are
convicted of felonies due to violations of the public trust and who
continue to abuse the public trust and rob the taxpayers,
seek unfair benefits at public expense, it is
necessary that this act take effect immediately.
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