BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: SB 54
Jim Beall, Chair HEARING DATE: February 11, 2013
SB 54 (Hancock) as amended 2/06/13 FISCAL: NO
RETIREMENT: COUNTY EMPLOYEES
HISTORY :
Sponsor: Alameda County
Other legislation: AB 340 (Furutani)
Chapter 296, Statutes of 2012
SUMMARY :
SB 54 would authorize Alameda County to provide a 2% at 65
retirement benefit formula for new employees covered by a MOU
adopted on or before December 31, 2012. URGENCY BILL .
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS :
1) Existing law :
a) establishes the Alameda County Employees' Retirement
Association (ACERA), a public retirement system governed
by the County Employee's Retirement Law of 1937 ('37
Act).
b) provides that all employees of the employer who are
in the same retirement classification (such as "general"
members) receive the same retirement benefit plan.
c) requires substantive changes to public retirement
systems in California pursuant to the Public Employee's
Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), including to those
systems established under the '37 Act county retirement
law.
d) makes reforms pursuant to PEPRA, including that
California public retirement systems offer a 2% at 62
retirement benefit formula to new miscellaneous (or
general) members as of January 1, 2013, in lieu of prior
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existing retirement benefit formulas.
e) authorizes a limited exception to allow public
employers to provide a defined benefit pension plan
other than the PEPRA plan to new members on or after
January 1, 2013, but only if the alternative plan has a
lower retirement benefit formula and lower normal cost
than PEPRA and is approved by the Legislature after
being bargained between employer and employee
representatives.
2) This bill :
a) would authorize Alameda County, subject to a MOU
approved prior to July 31, 2012, to provide a different
retirement formula in lieu of the PEPRA formula. The
formula would provide a retirement benefit of
approximately 2% at 65 for new members after a
resolution approving the formula is passed by the Board
of Supervisors.
b) would permit Alameda County to provide a different
retirement benefit formula to different bargaining units
within the general members retirement class. Thus, some
employees could have a new 2% at 65 formula while other
employees in the same class that had not agreed to the
formula would have PEPRA's 2% at 62 formula.
c) requires employees subject to the 2% at 65 formula to
be subject to all other requirements of PEPRA, including
the cap on pensionable compensation and the 3-year final
compensation factor.
d) is an URGENCY BILL .
COMMENTS :
1) Proposed Author's Amendments :
The committee is informed that the author will offer
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amendments to remove provisions of SB 54 that would permit
providing retirement benefits by bargaining unit. Under
current law, retirement benefits are generally required to be
provided by member classification not by bargaining unit.
The proposed amendments would conform to current law.
2) Arguments in Support :
According to Alameda County's representative, SB 54
"represents the culmination of contract negotiations between
Alameda County and SEIU 1021."
SEIU Local 1021 states that SB 54 "will save money for county
taxpayers and will strengthen the (Alameda County) pension
system."
CSAC notes that "SB 54 is the product of local employees
coming together with Alameda County to achieve savings that
will protect local jobs and services."
3) SUPPORT :
Alameda County (Sponsor)
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 (SEIU)
4) OPPOSITION :
None to date
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