BILL NUMBER: AB 1406	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 2, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Emmerson

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to amend Section  31551   31522.5
 of the Government Code, relating to county employees'
retirement.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1406, as amended, Emmerson.  County employees'
retirement: membership.   County boards of retirement:
Orange County and San Bernardino County.  
   The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 authorizes the board
of retirement of Orange County, and that of San Bernardino County
upon resolution by the board of retirement, to appoint specified
management, investment, and legal personnel. These appointees are not
classified as county employees and are therefore not subject to the
civil service system, but are employees of that retirement system,
subject to the terms of employment determined by the board of
retirement.  
   This bill would extend the authority of the retirement boards
described above to appoint their specified personnel outside the
civil service system to apply to supervisors and employees with
specialized training and knowledge in pension benefit member
services, investment reporting compliance, investment accounting,
pension benefit tax reporting, pension benefit financial accounting,
and pension law.  
   The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 provides a
comprehensive set of rights and benefits for county and district
employees who are members of a retirement system subject to that law.
Those counties are required to organize a retirement association,
and county officers and employees are members of that association,
unless expressly excluded from membership. Existing law provides that
persons employed as participants in a program of, and whose wages
are paid in whole or in part by federal funds in accordance with, a
specified federal law, are excluded from membership. 

   This bill would replace the reference to that obsolete federal law
with a reference to the current federal law. 
   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 31522.5 of the  
Government Code   is amended to read: 
   31522.5.  (a) In a county in which the board of retirement has
appointed personnel pursuant to Section 31522.1, the board of
retirement may appoint an administrator, an assistant administrator,
a chief investment officer, senior management employees next in line
of authority to the chief investment officer, subordinate
administrators, senior management employees next in line of authority
to subordinate administrators,  supervisors and employees with
specialized training and knowledge in pension benefit member
services, investment reporting compliance, investment accounting,
pension benefit tax reporting, pension benefit financial accounting,
and pension law,  and legal counsel.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the personnel
appointed pursuant to this section may not be county employees but
shall be employees of the retirement system, subject to terms and
conditions of employment established by the board of retirement.
Except as specifically provided in this subdivision, all other
personnel shall be county employees for purposes of the county's
employee relations resolution, or equivalent local rules, and the
terms and conditions of employment established by the board of
supervisors for county employees, including those set forth in a
memorandum of understanding.
   (c) Except as otherwise provided by Sections 31529.9 and 31596.1,
the compensation of personnel appointed pursuant to this section
shall be an expense of administration of the retirement system,
pursuant to Section 31580.2.
   (d) The board of retirement and board of supervisors may enter
into any agreements as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out
the provisions of this section.
   (e) Section 31522.2 is not applicable to any retirement system
that elects to appoint personnel pursuant to this section.
   (f) This section shall apply only in Orange County.
   (g) This section shall apply to the retirement system established
under this chapter in San Bernardino County at such time as the board
of retirement, by resolution, makes this section applicable in that
county. 
  SECTION 1.    Section 31551 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
   31551.  (a) A person expressly declared to be ineligible to
membership by this article shall not become a member of the
retirement association, and, except as expressly excluded, a person
enumerated in this article shall become a member of the association.
   (b) A person employed as a participant in a program of, and whose
wages are paid in whole or in part by federal funds in accordance
with, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-220), as
amended, or any of its predecessors, is excluded from membership.
This exclusion shall not apply to active fire suppression personnel
who are safety members pursuant to Sections 31469.3 and 31470.4.