BILL NUMBER: SJR 30	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 17, 2010
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 12, 2010
	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, 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 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.



   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 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 contributions;
and
   WHEREAS, There is presently no option for 457(b) plan participants
to treat elective deferrals as designated Roth contributions; and
   WHEREAS, Under a designated Roth 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 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 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
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.