BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2053
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Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2053 (Allen) - As Introduced: February 23, 2012
Policy Committee: PERSSVote:6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY : This bill authorizes the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid
Transit District (BART) to establish a vesting requirement for
post-retirement health benefits coverage that is different than
what is allowed under current law for agencies that contract
with the California Public Employees Retirement System
(CalPERS). Specifically, this bill:
1)Allows BART to make contributions for postretirement health
benefits for members of the district board of directors, the
districts' unrepresented employees, and for any unit of
employees whose terms and conditions of employment are
determined through collective bargaining, based on years of
service performed for the district.
2)Requires employer contributions for postretirement health
benefits for unrepresented employees to conform to eligibility
criteria and schedules in approved bargaining agreements for
represented employees.
3)Prohibits any agreement from providing an employer
contribution for retiree healthcare for employees with less
than 10 years of service with BART except in cases where an
employee retires for disability.
4)Requires any agreement to provide full employer contribution
for employees with 15 or more years of service with BART.
Full contributions for employees who retire for disability
with less than 15 years of service is allowed.
5)Specifies that these provisions apply to BART employees first
hired on or after July 1, 2013, or on the date specified in
the bargaining agreement.
AB 2053
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FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible fiscal impact.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose. According to the author, BART has had funding issues
over the years and has sought to resolve its fiscal problems
through layoffs and wage concessions from its rank and file
employees. The author notes through these concessions and
changes in work rules the District has saved significantly,
with some projections of these savings are in excess of $100
million. According to the author, many of the cuts have had a
detrimental impact on BART workers and the public that relies
on the system. The author argues AB 2053 avoids these results
by finding creative ways to save money that doesn't impact the
transit services and doesn't harm the workforce.
Supporters, including the bill's sponsor, California
Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union and SEIU and
AFSCME conclude this bill will allow BART and its employees to
incorporate these changes into a new bargaining agreement when
the existing one expires June 30, 2013.
2)Background. Existing law establishes the Public Employees'
Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) under the
administration of CalPERS. If a contracting agency elects to
cover their employees for health care under PEMHCA, they have
several existing options to choose from in determining
contribution amount for retirees.
3)Previous legislation.
a. AB 2510 (Fletcher), Chapter 600, Statutes of 2010
provided the City of San Diego the ability to establish a
vesting requirement for post-retirement health benefits
coverage that is different than what is allowed under
current law for contracting agencies.
b. AB 1506 (Kuehl), Chapter 326, Statutes of 1995,
authorized the Santa Monica Community College District and
the Mt. San Antonio Community College Districts to
establish their own schedule of employer contributions for
post-retirement health benefit coverage under PEMHCA.
AB 2053
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4)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081