BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1271 HEARING DATE:
4/20/10
AUTHOR: ROMERO ANALYSIS BY:
Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 4/5/10
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Political Reform Act: conflict of interest codes
DESCRIPTION
Existing law , pursuant to the Political Reform Act,
requires each state and local government agency to adopt
and promulgate a conflict of interest code. A conflict of
interest code must establish conflict of interest standards
for designated employees of the agency and requires those
employees to file periodic statements of economic interest
(SEIs) disclosing specified personal financial information.
Existing law further requires specified public officials,
including officials who manage public investments, to also
file SEIs, but does not require those officials to be
specifically enumerated in the agency's conflict of
interest code.
This bill would require a public retirement board,
commission, or agency to attach to its conflict of interest
code an appendix that lists each position for which an
individual occupying that position is required to file a
SEI as a public official who manages public investments.
The bill would further require the board, commission, or
agency to post the appendix on its Internet Web site.
This bill provides that for this purpose "public official
who manages public investments" includes a salaried or
unsalaried member of a committee, board, commission, or
other entity that exists as, or within, a governmental
agency and that possesses decision making authority.
This bill provides that a committee, board, commission, or
other entity possesses decision making authority if any of
the following apply:
The entity may make a final governmental decision.
The entity may compel a governmental decision or prevent
a governmental decision, either by virtue of possessing
exclusive power to initiate the decision or by having
veto authority that may not be overridden.
The entity makes substantive recommendations that are,
and over an extended period of time have been, regularly
approved, without significant amendment or modification,
by another public official or governmental agency.
However, this bill provides that a committee, board,
commission, or other entity does not possess decision
making authority if it is formed for the sole purpose of
researching a subject and preparing a report or
recommendation for submission to another governmental
entity that has final decision making authority.
BACKGROUND
More than just PERS and STRS ? The following public
retirement agencies, among others, would fall under the
purview of this bill:
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District Retirement Plan
Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association
Bart Investment Plans Committee
City Of Concord Retirement System
Contra Costa Employees' Retirement Association
East Bay Municipal Utility District Retirement System
Fresno City Employees' Retirement System
Fresno City Fire & Police Retirement System
Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association
Imperial County Employees' Retirement System
Kern County Employees' Retirement Association
Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System
Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association
Los Angeles County MTA Retirement Plan
Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System
Los Angeles Water and Power Employees' Retirement Plan
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Marin County Employees' Retirement Association
Mendocino County Employees' Retirement Association
Merced County Employees' Retirement Association
Oakland Municipal Employees' Retirement System
Oakland Police & Fire Retirement System
Orange County Employees' Retirement System
Pasadena Fire & Police Retirement System
Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)
Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System
Sacramento Regional Transit District Retirement Plan
San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association
San Diego City Employees' Retirement System
San Diego County Employees' Retirement Association
San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System
San Joaquin County Employees' Retirement Association
San Jose Federated City Employees' Retirement System
San Jose Police & Fire Department Retirement Plan
San Luis Obispo County Pension Trust
San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association
Santa Barbara County Employees' Retirement System
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority/Amalgamated
Transit Union
Pension Plan
Sonoma County Employees' Retirement Association
Stanislaus County Employees' Retirement Association
State of California Savings Plus Program
State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Tulare County Employees' Retirement Association
University Of California Retirement System
Ventura County Employees' Retirement Association
COMMENTS
1.According to the author , California's public retirement
systems (PRS) each have a governing body whose
responsibility is to administer the pension in a manner
that protects the interests of the pension members for
whom they have a fiduciary responsibility. The Political
Reform Act requires state and local government agencies
to adopt and promulgate a Conflict of Interest Code. The
purpose of this Conflict of Interest Code, with respect
to public employee retirement systems is to facilitate
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the disclosure of the economic interests of public
officials serving Public Retirement Systems (PRS) that
may be materially affected by PRS's actions in which they
participate.
However, the Conflict of Interest code promulgated by some
PRS are extremely lax and/or do not encompass all those
persons who may be materially affected by the PRS actions
in which they actively participate in the decision-making
process, but do not vote. Since these persons do not
file SEIs there is no way to determine if they have been
materially affected.
This bill would encompass those persons who participate in
the decision making process, but do not vote, requiring
them to file SEIs.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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