State employment: State Bargaining Units.

(1) Existing law provides that a provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees that requires the expenditure of funds does not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. This bill would approve provisions of the agreements entered into by the state employer and State Bargaining Units 7 and 8. The bill would provide that the provisions of the addenda included above that require the expenditure of funds will not take effect unless funds for these provisions are specifically appropriated by the Legislature. The bill would authorize the state employer or these state bargaining units to reopen negotiations if funds for these provisions are not specifically appropriated. The bill would require the provisions of these agreements that require the expenditure of funds to become effective even if the provisions are approved by the Legislature in legislation other than the annual Budget Act. Existing law, for the 2021–22 fiscal year, continuously appropriates to the Controller from the General Fund unallocated special funds, including federal funds and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, and any other fund from which state employees are compensated, the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and employee benefits covered by specified memoranda of understanding, if the Budget Act is not enacted by July 1, 2021. This bill would include, within these continuous appropriation provisions, the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by the memorandum of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 19 (effective July 2, 2020, to July 1, 2023, inclusive) . The bill would also revise the timeframe of the memorandum of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 8 to provide that it is effective from July 1, 2021 to July 30, 2022, inclusive. Existing law, for the 2022–23 fiscal year, continuously appropriates to the Controller from the General Fund unallocated special funds, including federal funds and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, and any other fund from which state employees are compensated, the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by specified memoranda of understanding, if the Budget Act of 2022 is not enacted by July 1, 2022. This bill would also include, within these continuous appropriation provisions, the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by the memoranda of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 19 (effective July 2, 2020, to July 1, 2023, inclusive) . Existing law, for the 2023–24 fiscal year, continuously appropriates to the Controller from the General Fund unallocated special funds, including federal funds and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, and any other fund from which state employees are compensated, the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by State Bargaining Units 5, 6, and 16 if the Budget Act of 2023 is not enacted by July 1, 2023. This bill would further include, within these continuous appropriation provisions, the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and employee benefits to state employees covered by the memorandum of understanding for State Bargaining Unit 19 (effective July 2, 2020, to July 1, 2023, inclusive) . (2) The Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) , which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System, prescribes methods for calculating the state employer contribution for employee health care and other postemployment benefits for eligible retired public employees and their families and for the vesting of these benefits. PEMHCA establishes the Annuitants' Health Care Coverage Fund, which is continuously appropriated, for the purpose of prefunding health care coverage for annuitants, including administrative costs. PEMHCA requires the state and employees in specified State Bargaining Units to prefund retiree health care and other postemployment benefits, subject to certain conditions. PEMHCA suspends those employees' monthly contributions for prefunding other postemployment benefits for the 2020–21 fiscal year. PEMHCA requires the Legislature to appropriate $616,000,000 from the General Fund on behalf of employees for the 2020–21 employee prefunding contributions that were suspended. Existing law provides that this appropriation represents a portion of the amount identified in a specified provision of the Budget Act of 2021, and requires the Department of Finance to provide the Controller with a schedule establishing the timing of specified transfers. This bill would specify that this $616,000,000 appropriation is for purposes described in a specific provision of the California Constitution relating to unfunded liabilities for state-level pension plans and prefunding other postemployment benefits. (3) The bill would appropriate the sum of $38,737,000 for State Bargaining Units 5, 7, 8, and judicial branch employees for expenditure in the 2021–22 fiscal year in augmentation of, and for the purpose of, state employee compensation, in accordance with a specified schedule. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.