BILL NUMBER: SJR 30	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 24, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 3, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Kehoe
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Fletcher)

                        APRIL 7, 2010

   Relative to deferred compensation plans.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 30, as amended, Kehoe. Deferred compensation plans.
   This measure would urge the Congress of the United States and the
President to amend the United States Internal Revenue Code to allow
all eligible government employees participating in a 457(b) deferred
compensation plan the option to treat their elective deferrals as
 designated  Roth  IRA  contributions. The
measure would also urge the Congress of the United States and the
President to create parity among all workers by presenting 457(b)
plan participants with savings choices similar to those given to
participants planning for retirement under the Economic Growth and
Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the federal government's Thrift
Savings Plan.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, On June 7, 2001, the Economic Growth and Tax
Reconciliation Act of 2001 was signed into law by President George W.
Bush, granting section 401(k) retirement plan participants the
option to treat elective deferrals as  designated  Roth
 IRA  contributions; and
   WHEREAS, On June 22, 2009, the Federal Retirement Reform Act of
2009 was signed into law by President Barack Obama, granting
participants in the federal government's Thrift Savings Plan the
option to treat elective deferrals as  designated  Roth
 IRA  contributions; and
   WHEREAS, There is presently no option for 457(b) plan participants
to treat elective deferrals as  designated  Roth 
IRA  contributions; and
   WHEREAS, Under a  designated  Roth  IRA
Contribution Plan Option   contribution  , an
employee participating in a 457(b) plan would have the option to make
his or her deferred contribution payments on an after-tax basis in
exchange for a tax-free distribution made to him or her upon
retirement; and
   WHEREAS, Allowing state and local government employees currently
participating in a 457(b) deferred compensation plan the option to
treat elective deferrals as  designated  Roth  IRA
 contributions would provide an immediate and ongoing income
benefit for both the State of California and the Treasury of the
United States. Providing employees participating in a 457(b) plan the
option to treat their contributions as  designated  Roth
 IRA  contributions could raise an estimated one
billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) in taxes nationwide over a 10-year
period; and
   WHEREAS, There are more than 269,000 state employees who are
eligible to enroll in a 457(b) plan; and
   WHEREAS, There are more than 1.08 million local government
employees who are eligible to enroll in a 457(b) plan; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the California State Legislature
   urges the Congress of the United States and the President to amend
the United States Internal Revenue Code to allow all eligible
government employees participating in a 457(b) deferred compensation
plan the option to treat their elective deferrals as  designated
 Roth  IRA  contributions; and be it further
   Resolved, That the California State Legislature urges the Congress
of the United States and the President to create parity among all
workers by presenting 457(b) plan participants with savings choices
similar to those given to participants planning for retirement under
the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the
federal government's Thrift Savings Plan; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the United States Senate, to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United States,
to the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, to the Secretary
of the Department of Labor, and to the author for other appropriate
distributions.