BILL NUMBER: AB 266	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mullin

                        FEBRUARY 4, 2003

   An act to amend Section 31780.2 of the Government Code, relating
to county employees' retirement.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 266, as introduced, Mullin.  County employees' retirement:  San
Mateo County.
   Existing law authorizes the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors,
among others, to provide specified benefits to the surviving
domestic partner of a member of the county's retirement system.
   This bill would authorize that board of supervisors to elect to
phase-in those benefits through collective bargaining and based on
actuarial cost estimates.
   Vote:  majority.  Appropriation:  no.  Fiscal committee:  no.
State-mandated local program:  no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 31780.2 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   31780.2.  (a) In a county of the 1st class, the 10th class, the
16th class, or the 18th class, as defined in Sections 28020, 28022,
28031, 28037, and 28039, any benefits accorded to a spouse pursuant
to this article and Article 11 (commencing with Section 31760),
Article 15.5 (commencing with Section 31841), Article 15.6
(commencing with Section 31855), and Article 16 (commencing with
Section 31861), or any of them, may be accorded to a domestic
partner, as defined in Section 297 of the Family Code, who is
registered with the Secretary of State pursuant to Division 2.5
(commencing with Section 297) of the Family Code.  The county may
also require the member and the member's domestic partner to have a
current Affidavit of Domestic Partnership, in the form adopted by the
county board of supervisors, on file with the county for at least
one year prior to the member's retirement or death prior to
retirement.
   (b)  In the event   If  a member 
has a domestic partner  described in subdivision (a)  and
 has a surviving dependent child, the surviving dependent child
shall receive the death and survivor's allowance until  the 
age  of  19 years or until married, whichever occurs
earlier, or until  the  age  of  22 years if
attending an educational institution.  When the member's surviving
dependent child reaches  the  age  of  19 years or
is no longer a dependent, whichever occurs earlier, or reaches 
the  age  of 22 years if attending an educational
institution, then the benefits accorded to a spouse, as specified in
subdivision (a), may be accorded to  a   the
member's  domestic partner pursuant to this section.  However,
if a surviving dependent child elects to receive a lump-sum payment,
the lump-sum payment shall be shared among any surviving dependent
children and the domestic partner, pursuant to this section, in a
proportional manner.
   (c) This section is not operative unless and until the county
board of supervisors, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, makes
this section operative in the county.   In a county of the 10th
class, as defined in Sections 28020 and 28031, the county board of
supervisors may also elect to phase-in the benefits described in this
section over a reasonable period of time, as determined through the
collective bargaining process and based on actuarial cost estimates.