BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1406
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1406 (Emmerson)
As Amended May 21, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES 6-0
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|Ayes:|Hernandez, Furutani, | | |
| |Beall, Conway, Nestande, | | |
| |Torrico | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Allows the board of retirement of San Bernardino
County, which operates a retirement system established under the
County Employees' Retirement Law of 1937 ('37 Act), to appoint,
outside the county civil service system, supervisors and
employees who have specialized training and knowledge in the
following areas:
1)Pension and benefit member services;
2)Investment reporting compliance;
3)Investment accounting;
4)Pension benefit tax reporting;
5)Pension benefit financial accounting; and,
6)Pension law.
EXISTING LAW authorizes the boards of retirement of Orange
County and San Bernardino County upon adoption by the board of
retirement, to appoint, outside of the county civil service
process, the following positions: an administrator, an
assistant administrator, a chief investment officer, subordinate
administrators, and senior management employees next in line of
authority to subordinate administrators, and legal counsel.
These employees are classified as "at will" employees are
considered employees of the retirement system, not the county,
and are subject to the terms and conditions of employment
established by the retirement board.
AB 1406
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 1406 would allow both
the Board of Retirement of the San Bernardino County Employees'
Retirement Association (SBCERA) to directly hire supervisors and
employees with specialized training and knowledge, instead of
having to hire these employees within the civil service system.
This bill would allow both counties to better recruit qualified
employees for these positions in a more timely manner.
"Current law allows SBCERA to hire their own administrator,
management employees, investment officers and legal counsel
rather than having to hire from the list of applicants available
under the civil service process. However, existing law does not
include this quick and efficient hiring process for the
supervisors and employees with specialized training and
knowledge who serve the tens of thousands of active and retired
members and their beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the county
Board of Retirement is experiencing a high turnover rate with
its supervisors and employees with specialized training and
knowledge. These employees obtain training and expertise at the
expense of the Board of Retirement and then leave to take a
better paying position with the counties. The continuous
instability for these positions is hurting the overall service
levels that SBCERA is able to provide to its members and
beneficiaries."
Supporters state, "In these economically challenging time,
SBCERA has been able to maintain a superior level of service to
our members due to extensive training of specialized employees.
AB 1406 offers these employees the opportunity to remain with
SBCERA as SBCERA employees rather than County employees and
maximize their professional training to the benefit of our
members."
This bill is similar to AB 2666 (Plescia) of 2008, which would
have authorized the San Diego County board of retirement to
adopt provisions classifying personnel appointed to administer
the retirement system as employees of the retirement system
instead of county employees. These employees would have been
subject to the terms and conditions of employment established by
the board of retirement. This bill died on the Senate inactive
file.
AB 1406
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Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957
FN: 0000822