BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: SB 752
Lou Correa, Chair Hearing date: April 27, 2009
SB 752 (Wiggins) as introduced 2/27/09 FISCAL: YES
PERS: SOLANO COUNTY TRIAL COURT EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT
ACCOUNT
HISTORY :
Sponsor: Solano County Board of Supervisors
Prior legislation: SB 733 (Aanestad) 2006
Died in Assembly Appropriations
SB 2140 (Burton)
Chapter 1010 of 2000
Proposition 220
Adopted in November, 1998
AB 233 (Escutia)
Chapter 850 of 1997
SUMMARY :
Would provide:
a) an exemption to Solano County from a provision in the
California Public Employees Retirement Law (PERS Law) that
requires, for counties contracting with PERS for retirement
benefits, the county and the trial court within that county
to participate in PERS under a joint contract, and
b) as a result of this exemption, the assets and
liabilities of the trial court and the county would be
separated and placed in a risk pool created in accordance
with existing PERS Law , with the separation of assets
calculated retroactively from June 30, 2002.
BACKGROUND :
1) Chapter 850 of 1997 created the Task Force on Trial Court
Employees and altered the funding mechanism for local trial
courts, transferring funding responsibility from the counties
to the state.
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Date: 4/21/09 Page 1
2) Proposition 220 of 1998 authorized the voluntary
unification of each county's superior and municipal courts
into a one-tier trial court system.
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Date: 4/21/09 Page 2
3) Chapter 1010 of 2000 granted the courts the status of
independent employers, making trial court staff member
employees of the courts. Prior to Chapter 1010 , trial court
staffs were county employees. Chapter 1010 included
provisions addressing retirement, health benefits, and Social
Security coverage.
ANALYSIS :
1) Existing PERS law requires that, in the case of a trial
court located within a county contracting with PERS for
retirement benefits, the trial court and the county must
participate under a joint contract with PERS, resulting in
pooled assets and liabilities, a single employer contribution
rate and a single benefit package .
2) This bill would create an exemption to existing PERS law
for Solano County, allowing:
a) the assets and liabilities of the trial court and the
county would be separated and placed in a risk pool created
in accordance with existing PERS law , with the split
calculated retroactively from June 30, 2002,
b) the trial court to negotiate retirement benefits for
their employee that may differ from those of Solano County
employees, and
c) the employer contribution rates to be calculated
separately for Solano County and the County Trial Courts.
COMMENTS :
1) Trial Courts - PERS Employer Contracts
The committee is advised that Chapter 1010 of 2000
established a new trial court employee personnel system
governing employment, classification and compensation, labor
relations, selection and advancement, employment protection,
and personnel files.
As it pertained to PERS, Chapter 1010 provided that, in those
David Felderstein
Date: 4/21/09 Page 3
counties that were already contracting with PERS for
retirement benefits, the trial court was deemed to
participate in the system jointly with the county. Trial
courts located within a county that did not contract with
PERS were permitted to independently contract with PERS for
retirement benefits.
David Felderstein
Date: 4/21/09 Page 4
Under a joint contract:
a) the retirement assets and liabilities trial court and
county are pooled for purposes of valuation and employer
rate setting,
b) the employer contribution rate is applied to the
payrolls of both the county and the trial court,
c) the trial court and the county are each responsible for
paying the contributions required on behalf of its own
employees, and
d) the trial court and the county must provide the same
retirement benefits .
2) Solano County's Problem
Information furnished to the committee by Solano County
indicates that the courts now function independently of the
counties in many respects. They provide their own capital
needs, devise and fund their own budgets, maintain their own
checking accounts, etc.
The Solano County Board of Supervisors believes that other
functions, such as retirement functions, should also be
administered by the courts.
3) OPPOSITION :
None to date
David Felderstein
Date: 4/21/09 Page 5
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Date: 4/21/09 Page 6