BILL NUMBER: AB 1653	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 9, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cook
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Fletcher,   Jeffries,   and Portantino 
 ) 
    (   Coauthors:   Senators   Dutton
  and Huff  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2012

   An act to add Section 1244 to the Government Code, relating to
public employees.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1653, as amended, Cook. Public employees: pensions: forfeiture.

   Existing law provides that any elected public officer who takes
public office, or is reelected to public office, on or after January
1, 2006, who is convicted of any specified felony arising directly
out of his or her official duties, forfeits all rights and benefits
under, and membership in, any public retirement system in which he or
she is a member, effective on the date of final conviction, as
specified.
   This bill would require any person employed at-will for the
purposes of providing services to an elected public officer who takes
public office, or is reelected to public office, on or after January
1, 2013, who is convicted of any specified felony arising directly
out of his or her official duties, to forfeit all rights and benefits
under, and membership in, any public retirement system in which he
or she is a member, effective on the date of final conviction, as
specified.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1244 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   1244.  (a) If a public employee is convicted of any felony
involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the
embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money,
perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes arising directly
out of his or her official duties as a public employee, he or she
shall forfeit all rights and benefits under, and membership in, any
public retirement system in which he or she is a member, effective on
the date of final conviction.
   (b) The public employee described in subdivision (a) shall forfeit
only that portion of his or her rights and benefits that accrued on
or after January 1, 2013.
   (c) Any contributions made by the public employee described in
subdivision (a) to the public retirement system that arose directly
from  , or accrued solely as a result of  ,  his or
her forfeited service as a public employee shall be returned,
without interest, to the public employee.
   (d) The public agency that employs a public employee described in
subdivision (b) shall notify the public retirement system in which
the person is a member of the person's conviction.
   (e) For purposes of this section, "public employee" means any
person employed at-will for the purposes of providing services to an
elected public officer who takes public office, or is reelected to
public office, on or after January 1, 2013.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that the integrity and
fiscal stability of local governmental agencies in this state,
including charter cities and charter counties, directly affects the
long-term well-being of all the residents of this state. The public
perception of efficiency, transparency, and accountability in local
governments in California affects the likelihood of businesses
locating to or remaining in the state. Therefore, the Legislature
finds and declares that to ensure the statewide integrity of state
agencies and local agencies, the ability of the state to limit
retirement benefits paid to a person who is employed for the purposes
of providing services to an elected public officer and who is
convicted of a crime related to his or her official duties is an
issue of statewide concern and not a municipal affair, as that term
is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution.
Therefore, this act shall apply to all cities and counties, including
charter cities and charter counties.