Article XVI of the California Constitution requires a general obligation bond act to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds, and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and by a majority of the voters. Article XVI authorizes the Legislature, at any time after the approval of a general obligation bond act by the voters, to reduce the amount of the indebtedness authorized by the act to an amount not less than the amount contracted at the time of the reduction or to repeal the act if no debt has been contracted. Existing law, pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, provides for the issuance of $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and related rail purposes. Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority with specified powers and duties related to the development and implementation of a high-speed train system. This bill would provide that no further bonds shall be sold for high-speed rail and related rail purposes pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. The bill would amend the bond act to authorize redirection of the net proceeds received from outstanding bonds issued and sold prior to the effective date of this act, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from those high-speed rail purposes to retiring the debt incurred from the issuance and sale of those outstanding bonds. This bill would provide that, pursuant to Article XVI of the California Constitution, these provisions shall become effective only upon approval by the voters at the next statewide general election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides that there is in state government the Department of Food and Agriculture and prescribes various duties, powers, and responsibilities of the department. This bill would require the department, upon inspection and approval of the facility, to grant the Wildlife Center a permit to operate for at least 5 years. The bill would provide that the department is the sole state licensing agency over the Wildlife Center. The bill would authorize the department to charge the Wildlife Center a fee for the initial permit and for any subsequent renewals and inspections to cover the department's reasonable costs for those activities. The bill would require the Department of Fish and Game, upon the request of the Wildlife Center, to release the remains of Cotie, a dog/coyote hybrid, to the Wildlife Center. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Wildlife Center.
Existing law authorizes the Public Employment Relations Board to, in accordance with reasonable standards, designate positions or classes of positions which have duties consisting primarily of the enforcement of state laws. Existing law prohibits employees in these designated positions or classes from being denied the right to be in a bargaining unit composed solely of those employees. Existing regulations provide the procedure by which an employee organization may file a petition to become the exclusive representative of an appropriate unit consisting of a group of employees who are already members of a larger established unit represented by an incumbent exclusive representative. Existing regulations require a petition to sever to be accompanied by proof of majority support in the unit claimed to be appropriate. This bill would declare that state employee peace officers, as prescribed, have the right to be in a unit composed solely of those employees, provided they have complied with the regulations governing severance petitions described above. The bill would require the State Personnel Board to grant any complying petition within 30 days of the effective date of this act. The bill would also make related, conforming changes to those provisions.
Existing law establishes a California Artificial Reef Program, administered by the Department of Fish and Game, to include the placement of artificial reefs in state waters and a prescribed study of existing successful reefs and new reefs to determine design criteria. "Artificial reef" is defined for that purpose to mean manmade or natural objects intentionally placed in selected areas of the marine environment to duplicate those conditions that induce production of fish and invertebrates on natural reefs and rough bottoms, and that stimulate the growth of kelp or other midwater plant life that creates natural habitat for those species. This bill would delete that definition and, instead, define "artificial reef" to mean a structure that is constructed or placed in certain waters for the purposes of enhancing fishery resources and commercial and recreational fishing opportunities and to provide recreational SCUBA diving opportunities. The bill would require the department to designate a California State Artificial Reef Coordinator with specified responsibilities under the bill. The bill would authorize the department to impose a fee on any person or entity seeking to place or convert any object or structure as an artificial reef, not to exceed the actual costs to the department of evaluating the proposed project.
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 an employee of a school district, county office of education, or charter school, 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 employee on or after the earliest date of commission of the felony to be returned, without interest, to the employee upon the occurrence of a distribution event, as defined, unless otherwise ordered by a court or determined by the pension administrator.
The Legislative Open Records Act (LORA) requires that a legislative record, as defined, be open to public inspection unless the record is exempt from disclosure under the act. This bill would amend LORA to broaden the records subject to disclosure by making the following changes, among others: (a) Include as a legislative record a writing that contains information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, retained, or subject to control by a consultant of the Legislature. (b) Remove the exemption under LORA that allows the Legislature to withhold a record if on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record. (c) Replace the exemption under LORA for preliminary drafts, notes, and legislative memorandum with an exemption for intralegislative memoranda containing the author's recommendations or opinions, if the public interest in withholding the record is manifestly greater than the public interest in disclosure. (d) Remove the exemption under LORA for correspondence of and to individual Members of the Legislature and their staff. (e) Remove the exemption under LORA for records maintained or in the custody of the Legislative Counsel. (f) Remove the exemption under LORA for records maintained or in the custody of the majority and minority caucuses, and the majority and minority consultants, of each house of the Legislature. (g) Replace the exemption under LORA for records of complaints to or investigations conducted by, or records of security procedures of, the Legislature with an exemption for records the disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to pose a substantial security risk to the Legislature. The bill would require a record subject to disclosure to be provided as an electronic file, whenever possible, at the option of the requester. The bill would require certain information relating to legislative expenditures and meetings and appointments of Members of the Legislature to be produced and published by the Legislature on a monthly basis. The bill would repeal a provision of LORA authorizing the court to award costs and attorney's fees to the Legislature if a clearly frivolous suit is brought against the Legislature pursuant to LORA. The bill would prohibit the Legislature from selling, exchanging, furnishing, or otherwise providing a legislative record subject to disclosure to a private entity in a manner that prevents the Legislature or any state agency from disclosing the record directly.
(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 Senate 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.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 (PRA) prohibits a member of a state board or commission, or a designated employee of a state or local government agency, from accepting gifts from any single source in any calendar year with a total value of more than $250, as adjusted biennially by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) , if the receipt of income or gifts from that source is subject to disclosure on a statement of economic interests. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and authorizes the FPPC to assess a monetary penalty if it finds a violation of the PRA has been committed. This bill would prohibit any member of the board of, and any designated employee of, the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) or State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) from accepting gifts in any calendar year with a total value of more than $50 from any single person who has secured a contract with, or submitted a contract proposal to, PERS or STRS within the previous 5 years. A gift would not be deemed to have been accepted if the gift or its equivalent dollar value is returned to the donor of the gift within 30 days after receipt of the gift. Because a knowing or willful violation of this provision would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would disqualify a vendor or contractor that makes gifts in violation of the above-described gift limit on 2 separate occasions in a 5-year period from bidding on, and being awarded, any contract for a period of 2 years from the date of the 2nd penalty assessment made by the FPPC for commission of the violation. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System, which provides a defined benefit to its members based on age at retirement, service credit, and final compensation. Existing law defines "member" for purposes of PERL. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that provision.
(1) Existing law establishes various public agency retirement systems, including the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) , the Judges' Retirement System II, and various county retirement systems pursuant to the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, among others, and these systems provide defined pension benefits to public employees based on age, service credit, and amount of final compensation. The California Constitution permits a city or county to adopt a charter for purposes of its governance that supersedes general laws of the state in regard to specified subjects, including compensation of city or county employees. The California Constitution also establishes the University of California as a public trust with full powers of organization and government, subject only to specified limitations. Charter cities and the University of California may establish pension plans under their respective independent constitutional authority. These pension systems are funded by employee and employer contributions and investment returns. Existing law provides that public employee pension benefits are a form of deferred compensation, the right to which vests in the employee on contractual principles and is protected from impairment by the California Constitution and the United States Constitution. This measure would require each public retirement system, as defined in statute, to provide one or more hybrid pension plans meeting the requirements of this measure to each public employer that provides its employees a defined benefit pension plan administered by the public retirement system. The measure would require that a hybrid pension plan consist of a defined benefit component and a defined contribution or alternative plan design component, as specified. The measure would require, among other things, that a hybrid pension plan be designed with a goal of providing annually during retirement, based on a full career in public service, as defined, replacement income of 75% of a public employee's final compensation. The measure would require the Director of Finance, on or before January 1, 2013, to establish initial criteria and requirements for one or more hybrid pension plans, as specified. The measure would require, on and after July 1, 2013, each public retirement system to administer, and make available to each public employer that provides a defined benefit pension plan, one or more hybrid pension plans, except as specified, for public employees hired in each member classification in the public retirement system. The measure would require, for public employees hired on and after January 1, 2013, that retirement benefits be limited as provided, with regard to a defined benefit that is calculated with reference to final compensation, as specified, that final compensation be calculated using at least a consecutive 36-month period of service. The measure would establish various other limitations on the retirement benefits offered by public employers to public employees, regardless of the date the employees are hired, to the fullest extent permissible under the United States Constitution. In this regard, the measure would require that any change to a formula or benefit resulting in an increase in a member's pension benefits shall apply only to service performed on and after the operative date of the change and would require that employers and employees make required payments to fund the normal cost of benefits, as specified. The measure would require public employees to contribute at least 12 of the normal costs of any defined benefit plan and would prohibit an employer from paying an employee's required contributions, except as specified. The measure would also prohibit retirement systems from granting any nonqualified service credit, as specified. The measure additionally would require that a public employee, who is convicted of any felony arising from his or her official duties, forfeit retirement benefits based on certain statutes. The measure would limit the amount of service that a retired public employee may perform for public employers. The measure would provide that neither its provisions nor any related statutory provisions apply to, or otherwise restrict, death, survivor, and disability benefits, except as specified. The measure would provide that labor contracts that are in effect on November 7, 2012, and that are in conflict with the measure's provisions remain in effect until the expiration of the contract, at which time the requirements of the measure would apply. The measure would specify that terms used in those provisions are to be defined in a specified statute and would permit the Legislature to amend specified statutes referenced in the measure's provisions by a 23 vote of the membership of each house by a statute that is consistent with and furthers its purposes. The measure would provide that the activities, programs, and levels of service associated with its provisions are not state-mandated local programs requiring a subvention of funds. (2) The California Constitution prohibits the Legislature from changing the composition of the retirement board of a public pension or retirement system that included elected employee members as of a specified date, 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 system are, or were, prior to retirement, employed. This measure would require the composition of the retirement board of a public pension or retirement system to be modified, in the manner provided for in a specified statute, and would exempt that modification from ratification by the electors. (3) The measure would require the state to defend the constitutionality of its provisions.