BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 294|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 294
Author: Pan (D) and Nielsen (R)
Amended: 8/1/16
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE: 3-0, 1/14/16
AYES: Pan, Beall, Hall
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrell, Moorlach
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 1/25/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De
León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno,
Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach,
Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner, Vidak,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/11/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Public employment: military service: credit
SOURCE: CAL FIRE, Local 2881
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
Peace Officers Research Association of California
DIGEST: This bill requires employers that participate in the
California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) to
inform employees of the rights of returning veteran employees to
receive CalPERS credit for their periods of active service and
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requires employers to provide veterans with the forms necessary
to claim the service credit. This bill requires CalPERS to
create a unique form that clearly states this is an
employer-paid benefit and requires employers to also inform new
employees who are veterans of their rights to purchase CalPERS
service credit for their military service performed prior to
CalPERS membership.
Assembly Amendments clarify that the returning veteran has no
obligation to pay any portion of the employer contribution so
long as eligibility has been determined by CalPERS, and
clarified that all CalPERS employers must inform veterans of
their rights to purchase military service performed prior to
being hired, as allowable by the retirement system.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires that a public employee in the CalPERS retirement
system who takes a leave of absence to perform active military
duty is entitled to certain rights upon return to public
employment, including the right to receive salary adjustments,
retirement contributions, and applicable service credit in the
retirement system as if the individual had been working in his
or her job during the period of active military duty, as
specified.
2) Requires the returning veteran, in order to receive the
retirement service credit, to file an application form with
CalPERS.
3)Requires a CalPERS employer to pay the entire cost of the
applicable service credit for a returning veteran employee, as
specified, once the employee has filed the appropriate form
and been deemed eligible by CalPERS.
4)Requires, in order to be eligible for the employer-paid
service credit, that the employee meet certain criteria,
including returning to their public employment within six
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months of being honorably discharged from military service or
completing a period of rehabilitation offered by the United
States Government, as specified.
5)Allows a veteran who performed active military duty prior to
membership in CalPERS, or who took a leave of absence to
perform military service but does not otherwise meet the
requirements for the employer-paid service credit, to purchase
that military service in the retirement system as additional
service credit, as specified. This type of service credit
purchase is paid for entirely by the employee with no cost to
the employer.
This bill:
1)Requires CalPERS to create a separate and unique form for
returning public employee veterans that clearly states that
the veteran has no obligation to pay any portion of the
employer cost for applicable service credit during the
eligible period of military duty so long as eligibility is
confirmed by CalPERS upon reviewing the employee's service
credit request.
2)Requires CalPERS employers to inform returning veterans of
their rights to receive service credit in CalPERS for their
periods of military service and requires employers to provide
veterans with the appropriate CalPERS form to receive the
service credit.
3)Requires the state employer, on or before March 31, 2017, to
inform all state employees in a letter or electronic
transmission of the rights of returning veteran employees to
receive service credit in CalPERS for their military service
at no cost to the returning veterans.
4)Requires all CalPERS employers, upon hiring a veteran, to
inform the veteran of his or her right to purchase service
credit in CalPERS for his or her military duty prior to
employment and membership in CalPERS.
Background
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According to the author:
Existing law provides that a CalPERS member who goes on active
military service is entitled to return to his or her job
following discharge from that active service. In addition,
the returning veteran is entitled to receive an employer
contribution to CalPERS for credit in CalPERS during the time
of the active military service as if the member had remained
in his or her CalPERS-covered employment during that time.
This benefit is paid for entirely by the employer and costs
nothing to the returning veteran.
However, in order to receive this benefit, the veteran must
complete a service credit purchase form for CalPERS, and this
requirement has resulted in several problems. First, some
veterans do not realize that they are entitled to the benefit,
or they think the benefit is automatic. If the employer or
another individual does not inform the returning veteran of
the benefit and how to receive it, he or she may not be aware
that an action is required on the veteran's part to receive
the benefit.
Second, the form CalPERS uses for this benefit is confusing.
It is currently combined with another option to allow public
employees to purchase military service credit for military
service preformed prior to being a public employee. This type
of service credit is costly and some veterans become confused
and forgo applying for the service credit they are entitled to
at no charge because they mistakenly believe it to be too
expensive. Some veterans go years without applying for this
no-cost benefit, or may never apply.
Without an application, CalPERS cannot credit service and does
not have a record of the applicable military service.
Veterans and their survivors, in some cases, may be losing
valuable benefits.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 221 (Jackson, Chapter 794, Statutes of 2015) allowed a state
employee who is a disabled military veteran, in his or her first
year of employment, to receive up to 96 hours of additional sick
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leave for the purpose of undergoing medical treatment for his or
her military service-connected disability.
AB 372 (Eggman, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2013) required that
whenever any veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse
of a 100% disabled veteran achieves a passing score on an
entrance examination for state employment, he or she will be
placed in the top rank of the resulting hiring eligibility list.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will
have a "negligible fiscal impact."
SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/16)
CAL FIRE, Local 2881 (co-source)
California Association of Highway Patrolmen (co-source)
Peace Officers Research Association of California (co-source)
American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Professional Firefighters
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Military Officers Association of America, California Council of
Chapters
Organization of SMUD Employees
San Diego County Court Employees Association
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
Veteran of Foreign Wars, Department of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/11/16)
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None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
As stated by the sponsors:
Current law allows for public employees who have taken a leave
of absence for active military duty to return to their
previous jobs and receive any salary increases and /or
promotions they would have received while on duty. In
addition, they are also entitled to fully employer-paid
contributions to CalPERS for applicable service credit. In
order to receive this benefit, proper paperwork must be filed
with CalPERS. Unfortunately, most public employees are
ill-informed or misinformed on their rights and do not apply
for the benefit.
According to the California Professional Firefighters:
Firefighters in California proudly serve their communities
every day. Many serve their country as reservists or, prior
to becoming a firefighter, were enlisted as active duty
members in various branches of the military. SB 294 helps to
ensure that veterans who return to their public service jobs
after taking leave to perform active military service can in
fact receive the service credit that they are entitled to in
the Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). Further,
this bill requires the state and school employers that hire
veterans to inform them of their rights to purchase service
credit in CalPERS for their periods of military service prior
to employment.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
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Linder, Lopez, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Low
Prepared by:Pamela Schneider / P.E. & R. / (916) 651-1519
8/12/16 13:23:53
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