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This is a brief summary of the
legislation that will became law in January 2003, passed during 2002
legislative session affecting ’37 Act Counties:
AB 1908 PERS has a very successful long-term care
program. This bill changes the
law to allow employers to pay some or all of the premium for the long-term
care program. Until now the law
required that the employee had to pay the full cost of the premium. This change, as well as the entire
program, applies to the members and retirees of ‘37 Act systems.
AB 1945 This bill addresses the willful disclosure of
confidential information discussed during closed sessions of local
governments. The Ralph M. Brown
Act provides that it is unlawful for a public official to deprive the public
of information to which it is entitled.
This bill sets out the penalties for a public
official who willfully discloses information learned in a closed session,
when the legislative body has not authorized the disclosure of that
information. The bill provides
penalties, already found in current law, for such disclosure.
There are certain safeguards for people who make confidential
inquiries or complaints to a grand jury or a district attorney concerning
decisions taken in a closed session.
The disclosure of information from a closed session is not a crime if
that information is not confidential, or if the disclosure is made in
compliance with the various whistle blower statutes. AB 1797
AB 1797 requires state or local public officials who have a financial interest in a decision pending before their body to publicly identify that financial interest and then leave the room when that matter is taken up. The bill also requires that when the public official identifies the conflict, it be done in a way that can be easily understood by the public. This applies to elected state officers, judges and commissioners of the judicial branch, members of many commissions, planning commissioners, the boards of supervisors, district attorneys, county counsels, county treasurers, county chief executive officers, mayors, city managers, city attorneys, city treasurers, chief administrative officers and members of city councils, and other public officials who manage investments. This includes trustees of a Board of Retirement. AB 1847
AB 1847 amends PERS Law, the ‘37 Act and the Labor Code (Workers Comp) to presume
that peace officers who become ill after being exposed to a "biochemical
substance" have a job-related disability. Biochemical substance is defined as: "any biological
or chemical agency that may be used as a weapon of mass destruction,
including but not limited to, any chemical warfare agent, weaponized
biological agent, or nuclear or radiological agent, as these terms are
defined in Section 11.417 of the Penal Code." For the purposes of the Labor Code, "'firefighter"
includes an apprentice, volunteer, or employee on a partly or fully paid
basis. AB 1982 and 2131
Existing Workers Comp law
allows agencies under PERS, the ‘37 Act or the Los Angeles City Employees'
Retirement System to make advanced disability pension payments to a safety
officer who meets certain requirements and is approved for disability. This bill mandates what used to be
discretionary. Payment must
begin no later than 30 days from the last regular payment for salary,
specified benefits, or payment of sick leave. The advanced payments continue until a final decision is
made on whether the employee qualifies for a disability allowance. AB 2131, the companion to AB1982,
addresses the repayment of advanced disability payments if the employee is
eventually found not to qualify for a disability and provides for arranging
the money to be repaid to the County.
This is a County responsibility, not a Retirement System. AB 2023
Allows safety membership retirement for prosecutors, public defenders and public defender investigators if approved by the Board of Supervisors. While it is the County’s choice as to whether to make these employees safety members, if it does so it must pay for the conversion to safety of all previous similar service performed by the employees. Also, the employees cannot be granted the "3% at 50" retirement formula. The law is retroactive to January 1, 2002. There is a conflict with federal law in that the IRS considers safety members to work for either a fire department or a police dept. Prosecutors, public defenders and their investigators are not considered “safety” by the IRS. AB 2060
Several years ago, SB 670 was passed providing
for the granting of certain alternate death benefits in any county where the
Board of Retirement chose to adopt the provisions of that bill. Imperial County has adopted SB 670. Controversy arose when the retirement
systems tried to decide who was eligible for the benefit provided by the
bill. The retiree groups of the ‘37 Act systems wanted to see the bill applied
retroactively to those members who had died or retired before the county
adopted SB 670. Some of the
retirement systems felt that existing ‘37 Act law required them to apply the bill
prospectively only. This bill
gives the ‘37 Act Boards of
Retirement the authority to apply the bill retroactively if they choose to do
so. AB 2766 PERS
staffers wrote this bill although it applies to ‘37 Act systems. It applies to safety members only. The bill eliminates the requirement
that there cannot be more than 180 days between a member’s employment and
coverage by reciprocal retirement systems. It eliminates requiring a member who leaves to be vested
in the retirement system before being able to leave funds on deposit in that
system. The bill also allows
redeposit without again being hired by the earlier employer. Missed by the PERS staff is what
amount of interest the ‘37 Act systems would pay on money redeposited through
this bill. |
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