BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2474
Author: Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social
Security Cmte.
Amended: 8/14/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT COMM : 5-0, 6/9/14
AYES: Torres, Walters, Block, Evans, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/15/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : County employees retirement: benefits
SOURCE : State Association of County Retirement Systems
DIGEST : This bill makes various technical corrections and
conforming changes that align the County Employees Retirement
Law of 1937 (37 Act) with the provisions of the Public Employees
Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA).
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/14/14 correct sections governing 1)
the determination of pension benefits for members subject to
PEPRA who have less than three years of service credit upon
retirement; 2) the payment of member and employer contributions
for members on active military leave; and 3) make other minor
technical clarifications in order to conform with PEPRA.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Establishes the '37 Act, which governs retirement systems for
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county and district employees in those counties adopting its
provisions. Currently 20 counties operate independent
retirement systems under the provisions of '37 Act.
2.Establishes comprehensive public employee pension reform
through enactment of PEPRA, which applies to all public
employers and public pension plans on and after January 1,
2013, excluding the University of California and charter
cities and counties that do not participate in a retirement
system governed by state statute; accordingly, '37 Act
retirement systems must comply with PEPRA.
3.Requires that system members subject to PEPRA be subject to a
three-year final compensation period, and uses the term
"pensionable compensation" to define the types of compensation
that can be included in a final compensation calculation.
4.Requires that public officials who commit felonies in the
performance of official duties forfeit any retirement benefits
earned after the commission of the first felony.
5.Creates, for PEPRA members, two basic membership
classifications for the purpose of providing retirement
formulas: safety and nonsafety (e.g., 2% at age 62 for
nonsafety members).
This bill:
1.Clarifies that when determining final compensation for a
member subject to PEPRA who does not have three consecutive
years of earned pensionable compensation due to an absence,
the compensation for any absence is required to be based on
the pensionable compensation of the position held by the
member immediately prior to the absence.
2.Conforms provisions of the '37 Act governing the loss of
member benefits in the retirement system to the PEPRA
requirements for benefit forfeiture in the event of a felony
conviction.
3.Clarifies references to employee classifications by
designating the position as "safety" or "nonsafety," as
contained in PEPRA, rather than referring to multiple safety
employee classifications.
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4.Adds the term "pensionable compensation," as defined in PEPRA,
to the '37 Act's definition of final compensation and various
death benefit provisions so that benefits may be calculated
appropriately.
5.Adds the term "pensionable compensation," as defined in PEPRA,
to the '37 Act's various provisions governing the purchase of
military service credit for members who served in the military
so that the cost may be calculated appropriately.
6.Specifies that the '37 Act authorizes the governing board of
the county or district to elect to contribute for any member
who reenters county service after an absence from serving in
the Armed Forces amounts equal to the contributions which
would have been made by the member and the employer to the
system on the basis the member's compensation earnable at the
commencement of the absence, as specified. Provides that this
authorization does not apply to a member subject to PEPRA.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/14)
State Association of County Retirement Systems (source)
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor of the bill,
State Association of County Retirement Systems, this bill will
ensure continued implementation of PEPRA as intended.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 05/15/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. P�rez, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
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Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mansoor, Vacancy
JL:RM:nl 8/18/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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