BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1217|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) |Version: |
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 1217
Author: Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/12/10
AYES: Correa, Ashburn, Corbett, Cox, Ducheny, Liu
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : State government: warrants: employee
designees
SOURCE : Office of the State Controller
DIGEST : This bill allows an employee of the State to
designate a primary person and up to three contingent
persons for receipt of final pay warrants upon the
employees death. In addition, it clarifies that the
employee could also designate a corporation, trust, or the
employee's estate as a recipient of those warrants.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes an employee of the
State to file with his or her employer a designation naming
the person who will receive the employee's final pay
warrants in the event of the employee's death. The
employee may change the designation from time to time and
may name anyone as his or her designee.
In addition, the law gives the designee the right to claim
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the final warrants, upon proof of identity, and to
negotiate the warrants as if he or she were the original
payee.
This bill allows an employee to designate a primary
recipient and up to three additional recipients, in order,
to receive the final warrants in situations in which the
primary designee predeceases the employee. Additionally,
this bill also specifies that the employee could name a
corporation, trust or the employee's estate as the
designee.
Background
Upon entering employment, an employee designates a
recipient for his or her final warrant. In some cases,
many years go by between that initial designation and the
employee's death. After a number of years have passed, an
employee may not think to change a designation or even
remember having made a designation in the first place.
According to the State Controller's Office (SCO), this
becomes a problem because the final pay warrants of the
decedent must then be released under provisions of the
Probate Code if the sole designee is not eligible or cannot
be located within 60 days of the employee's death.
According to the SCO, 42.6 death transactions occurred in
the last six months. Although incidences of a beneficiary
predeceasing the employee are rare, they do occur from time
to time. This bill will enable the SCO to release a
deceased employee's final pay warrants to a contingent
designee if the primary designee is deceased, thereby
minimizing financial hardship to the deceased employee's
family.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/26/10)
Office of the State Controller (source)
California State Employees Association
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OPPOSITION : (Verified >)
>
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : >
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : >
CPM:cm 4/26/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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