BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






          SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT   BILL NO:  AB 1885
          Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair Hearing date:  June 25, 2012
          AB 1885 (Bonilla)    as introduced  2/22/12   FISCAL:  NO

           '37 ACT COUNTY RETIREMENT RECIPROCITY:  1 YEAR TO RE-EMPLOY
           

           HISTORY :

              Sponsor:  California Professional Firefighters

              Other legislation:AB 2795 (Negrete McLeod), 2006
                          Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee
                         AB 2956 (Wiggins), 2004
                          Vetoed

           ASSEMBLY VOTES  :

              PER & SS             4-2  5/02/12
              Assembly Floor       49-205/10/12
           
          SUMMARY  :

          AB 1885 extends the reemployment period for qualifying for 
          reciprocity eligibility for laid off employees from six 
          months to one-year for all counties operating retirement 
          systems under the County Employees' Retirement Law of 1937 
          ('37 Act).

           BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS  :
          
           1)Existing law  :

             a)   establishes the 1937 Act County Employees' Retirement 
               Law, which covers 20 independent county retirement 
               systems, each governed by an independent board of 
               retirement.

             b)   provides for reciprocity of retirement benefits 
               (including using the highest "final compensation" for 
               the purposes of calculating retirement benefits) for 
               members of specified public retirement systems, 
               including the '37 Act retirement system, who retire 
          Glenn A. Miles
          Date:  6/07/12                                         Page 1 










               concurrently under one of those systems and another 
               reciprocal retirement system as long as the break 
               between employment in the two systems does not exceed 
               six months.

             c)   authorizes a one-year reemployment period to qualify 
               for reciprocity eligibility for employees who are laid 
               off because of lack of work, a lack of funds, or a 
               reduction in workforce.  This provision is only 
               operative in '37 Act counties where the board of 
               supervisors has adopted a resolution to make these 
               provisions applicable.


           1)This bill  :

             a)   eliminates the existing provision that requires a 
               resolution by the board of supervisors to make the one 
               year period applicable to that county.  Thus, the 
               one-year reemployment period would apply to all '37 Act 
               counties.
           
          COMMENTS  :

           1)Arguments in Support  

          According to the author, "In cases where a '37 Act county 
          re-hires a laid off firefighter previously employed by 
          another public agency, the existing six-month reciprocity cap 
          oftentimes leaves little to no time for that firefighter to 
          navigate the county's hiring and selection process, 
          successfully complete its firefighting academy and officially 
          be hired by the county, all of which is a pre-requisite for 
          membership in the county's retirement system.  To the extent 
          this re-hiring process takes longer than six months, the 
          firefighter's public employment service with his/her former 
          employing public agency will not be eligible for reciprocity 
          in the county's retirement system."

          The sponsor states that "AB 1885 provides '37 Act counties 
          the additional time needed to ensure that a re-hired 
          firefighter's previous public employment service is in fact 
          kept whole in that county system and the benefits continue to 
          Glenn A. Miles
          Date:  6/07/12                                         Page 2 










          be coordinated with the other system."

           2)SUPPORT  :

            California Professional Firefighters (CPF), Sponsor
            Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

           3)OPPOSITION  :

            None to date




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          Glenn A. Miles
          Date:  6/07/12                                         Page 3