AB 2224

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) and the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) for the purpose of providing pension benefits to their employees. Existing law also establishes the Judges' Retirement System II which provides pension benefits to elected judges and the Legislators' Retirement System which provides pension benefits to elective officers of the state other than judges and to legislative statutory officers. The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 authorizes counties to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions in order to provide pension benefits to county, city, and district employees. The Regents of the University of California have established the University of California Retirement System as a trust for this purpose. Existing law permits members of PERS, STRS, and county, city, and district retirement systems that have adopted specified provisions, to purchase up to 5 years of additional retirement service credit by making specified contributions to the system. Existing law authorizes retirement benefits to be increased. This bill, on and after January 1, 2013, would prohibit a public retirement system from allowing the purchase of additional retirement service credit, as described above. The bill would except from this prohibition an official application to purchase this type of service credit received by the retirement system prior to January 1, 2013. The bill would prohibit any member who does not have at least 5 years of service credit before the operative date of this bill, or any person hired on or after that date, from purchasing additional retirement service credit. This bill would provide that any enhancement to a public retirement system's retirement formula or benefit that is adopted on or after January 1, 2013, would apply only to service performed on or after the operative date of the enhancement, except under specified circumstances. The bill would also provide that, if a change to a member's classification or employment results in an increase in the retirement formula or benefit applicable to that member, the increase would apply only to service performed on or after the operative date of the change. This bill would require a public employer to offer to its employees first hired on or after July 1, 2013, a hybrid pension plan or alternative pension plan option, as specified. The bill would require that each hybrid pension plan be designed with the goal of providing at normal retirement age, based upon a full career in public service of 30 years for safety employees and 35 years for all other public employees, replacement income of 75% of a public employee's final compensation. (2) 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 that a public employee, as defined, who is convicted of any state or federal felony for conduct arising out of, or in the performance of, his or her official duties in pursuit of the office or appointment, or in connection with obtaining salary, disability retirement, or service retirement, or other benefits, forfeit retirement benefits earned or accrued from the earliest date of the commission of the felony to the forfeiture date, as specified. The bill would also require any contributions to the public retirement system made by the public employee on or after the earliest date of commission of the felony to be returned, without interest, to the public employee upon the occurrence of a distribution event, as defined, unless otherwise ordered by a court or determined by the pension administrator. The bill would also make related, conforming changes. (3) Existing law defines final compensation for various employment classifications in connection with the benefits provided by the retirement systems. The bill, for the purposes of determining a retirement benefit paid to a person who first becomes a member of a public retirement system on or after January 1, 2013, would require that final compensation be calculated by multiplying the member's years of service credit by a percentage of the member's final compensation based on age at retirement using the member's payrate during a period of at least 36 consecutive months, as specified. (4) Existing state and local public employee retirement systems are funded by investment returns and employer and employee contributions. The California Constitution provides that the retirement board of a public pension or retirement system has the exclusive power to provide for actuarial services in order to ensure the competency of the assets of the system. Existing law, with respect to PERS, requires the Governor to include in the annual Budget Act the contribution rates submitted by the system actuary of the liability on account of employees of the state. This bill would require public employees who contribute to a defined benefit plan or component to contribute at least 12 of the annual actuarially determined normal costs, and would prohibit a public employer from contributing in any fiscal year, in combination with employer contributions, less than the plan normal cost. The bill would also prohibit an employer from paying the member's share of the employee contribution, except as specified. (5) Existing law generally prohibits any person who has been retired from being employed in any capacity with the same public employer unless he or she is first reinstated from retirement, except as authorized. This bill would prohibit a person who retires from a public employer from serving without reinstatement, except during an emergency to prevent stoppage of public business or because the retired employee has skills needed to perform work of limited duration, as specified. (6) The California Constitution prohibits changing the composition of the retirement board of certain public pension systems, including the number, terms, and method of selection and removal of members, unless the change is ratified by a majority vote of the electors of the jurisdiction in which the participants of the pension system are or were prior to retirement, employed. Existing law creates the Board of Administration of PERS for the purpose of governing the system and prescribes the composition of the board. Existing law requires that one member of the board of administration be a member of the State Personnel Board, serving at the pleasure of the State Personnel Board, and that a member representing the public be chosen jointly by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules. Existing law further requires that an official of a life insurer be appointed to the board of administration by the Governor. This bill would revise the composition of the Board of Administration of PERS. The bill would eliminate the position of the member of the State Personnel Board and would replace that position with the Director of Finance. The bill would add to the board 2 persons, appointed at the pleasure of the Governor, who represent the public, have financial expertise, and are not interested in the system, as specified. The bill would also replace the official of a life insurer, whom the Governor is currently authorized to appoint, with a gubernatorial appointee who has expertise in health insurance and is not interested in the system. (7) The Public Employee's Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) requires the employer contribution, with respect to each employee or annuitant who is in employment or retired from state service, to be adjusted by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, as specified. Those adjustments are required to be based on the principle that the employer contribution for each employee or annuitant shall be an amount equal to 100% of the weighted average of the health benefit plan premiums for an employee or annuitant enrolled for self-alone, during the benefit year to which the formula is applied, for the 4 health benefit plans that had the largest state enrollment, excluding family members, during the previous year. For each employee or annuitant with enrolled family members, the employer is required to contribute an additional 90% of the weighted average of the additional premiums required for enrollment of those family members, during the benefit year to which the formula is applied, in the 4 health benefit plans that had the largest state enrollment, excluding family members, during the previous year. This bill, for employees first hired on or after January 1, 2013, would limit the employer contribution amount to no greater than the lowest premium formula paid for a current employee enrolled for self-alone health benefit coverage year during the benefit year to which the formula is applied multiplied by the weighted average of the health benefit plan premiums, as specified. The bill would further require an employer, for each enrolled family member of a retired employee, to contribute an additional percentage that is no higher than the lowest premium formula paid for enrolled family members multiplied by the weighted average of the additional health benefit plan premiums required for enrollment of those family members. (8) Under PEMHCA, a state employee is required to have a certain number of years of state service, depending on hiring date and other factors, before he or she may receive any portion of the employer contribution payable for annuitants for postretirement health benefits. This bill would prohibit a state employee who becomes a state member of the system on or after January 1, 2013, from receiving any portion of the employer contribution payable for annuitants unless the person is credited with 15 years of state service at the time of retirement. The bill would further specify that the percentage of the employer contribution payable for postretirement health benefits for an employee shall be based on the number of completed years of credited state service at retirement, with 50% after 15 credited years of service, and 100% after 25 or more years of service. (9) The bill would also declare that ensuring the statewide integrity of local government pension systems and ensuring the sufficiency of local public safety services are matters of statewide concern and not a municipal affair, and that, therefore, all cities, including charter cities, would be subject to the provisions of the bill. The bill would also declare that these provisions apply to the University of California. (10) The bill would delay the operation of its provisions until January 1, 2013, contingent on voter approval of an unspecified Assembly Constitutional Amendment by voters at the November 6, 2012, statewide election. (11) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.