BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1479|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                         |
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 1479
          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


           SUBJECT  :    1937 Act County Retirement Law System  
          Housekeeping Bill

           SOURCE  :     Alameda County Employees Retirement Association
                      South Coast Air Quality Management District
                      State Association of County Employee Retirement  
          Systems



           DIGEST  :    This bill makes technical and non-controversial  
          changes to the 1937 Act County Retirement Law.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          1.Existing law:

             A.    Establishes the County Employees Retirement Law of  
                1937, which governs 20 independent county retirement  
                systems.

             B.    Allows an employee who moves from one public  
                employer to another public employer to accrue service  
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                credit in separate public retirement systems and to  
                have reciprocity among the different retirement  
                systems with regard to certain benefits; however,  
                that employee cannot receive reciprocity if service  
                is earned in more than one retirement system during  
                the same period.

             C.    Allows the retirement board of a county retirement  
                system to set the date upon which a new employee  
                becomes a credited member of the system, but that  
                date must be no later than six weeks after entering  
                employment with the participating country.

                This bill allows the retirement board of a county to  
                set the date upon which a new employee becomes, or  
                ceases being, a member, but that date could be no  
                later than 12 weeks after entering employment with  
                the county and no sooner than 12 weeks prior to  
                ending employment under the previous employer.

               Source:  State Association of County Employee  
            Retirement Systems 

          2.Existing law requires that counties in the 1937 Act  
            system transfer payments to the county retirement  
            associations to fund the cost of retiree benefits.   
            Existing law also allows a county board of supervisors to  
            authorize the county auditor to make payments to the  
            retirement system in advance of when those payments would  
            otherwise be due.

            This bill allows a district in San Bernardino County that  
            participates in the San Bernardino County Employee  
            Retirement Association (SBCERA) to also make advance  
            payments to that retirement system.

            Source:  South Coast Air Quality Management District, a  
            SBCERA 
                              participating agency

          3.Existing law establishes the Supplemental Retiree  
            Benefits Reserve (SRBR), to be used exclusively for the  
            benefit of retirees under county retirement systems that  
            have elected to be subject to those provisions  







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            (specifically, Alameda, Kern and Tulare counties).

            This bill clarifies that the administrative costs of  
            operating the SRBR in Alameda County may be paid through  
            the main retirement program in order to comply with IRS  
            rulings regarding the exclusive benefits rule.

            Source:  Alameda County Employees Retirement Association 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  4/13/10)

          Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association  
          (co-source)
          State Association of County Retirement Systems (co-source)
          South Coast Air Quality Management District (co-source)


          CPM:cm  4/14/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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