BILL NUMBER: AB 1136 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fong
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Section 31760.8 to the Government Code, relating to
county employees' retirement.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1136, as amended, Fong. County employees' retirement: optional
settlements.
(1) The
The County Employees' Retirement Law of 1937 permits a
member or retired member of a retirement system established pursuant
to its provisions, prior to the time that the first payment is of any
retirement allowance is made, to elect certain optional settlements,
which operate to reduce the allowance payable to the member through
his or her life and provide for a subsequent payment to another party
or parties, including his or her spouse.
This bill would, upon adoption by a county, permit a retired
member to revoke certain optional settlements if, at retirement, the
retired member was unmarried or had been married less than one year,
the retired member had retired before the county adopted other
specified optional retirement settlements, and the application to
revoke includes the signature of the designated beneficiary of the
optional settlement , or a written
declaration made under penalty of perjury , as
specified. By broadening the definition of the crime of
perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would provide a civil penalty for a person
who knowingly provides false information in the declaration, to be
brought at the option of a public prosecutor. The
bill would also require, if the designated beneficiary of the
optional settlement is a spouse or domestic partner of the member,
that the application for revocation evidence that person's agreement
to the revocation. The bill would provide, pursuant to this
revocation, that the retired member's allowance be adjusted
prospectively and the spouse would be entitled to any provisions for
which he or she may qualify as if an optional settlement had not been
elected. The bill would prohibit the retired member, after
revocation, from electing other optional settlements. The bill would
provide that the retirement system has no obligation to locate or
otherwise contact retired members who may qualify for a revocation.
The bill would provide that any actions taken, as described above, do
not excuse the obligation of a member to provide a continuing
benefit to a former spouse pursuant to court order.
(2) 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: yes
no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 31760.8 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
31760.8. (a) A retired member, in order to provide for his or her
spouse, shall be entitled to revoke an optional settlement elected
pursuant to Section 31761, 31762, 31763, or 31764 at the time of
retirement, if all of the following criteria are satisfied:
(1) The member retired on or before the date the board made
Sections 31760.2, 31785.1, or 31786.1 applicable in the county.
(2) At retirement, the member was unmarried or had been married
less than one year.
(3) The member's application satisfies the requirements described
in subdivisions (b) and (c).
(b) (1) An application for a revocation of an optional settlement
pursuant to this section shall include the signature of the
designated beneficiary of the optional settlement acknowledging the
revocation or shall include a written declaration, made
under penalty of perjury, declaration of one or
more of the following as may be applicable to the member:
(A) The beneficiary has no identifiable community property
interest in the benefit.
(B) The member does not know, and has taken all reasonable steps
to determine, the whereabouts of the beneficiary.
(C) The beneficiary has been advised of the application and has
refused to sign the written acknowledgment.
(D) The beneficiary is incapable of executing the acknowledgment
because of an incapacitating mental or physical condition.
(2) The purpose of this subdivision is to notify the beneficiary
of the revocation of an optional settlement made by a member that may
affect the entitlement of the beneficiary.
(3) A person who knowingly provides false information in the
written declaration submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
subject to a civil penalty of not less than one thousand dollars
($1,000) and not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), in
addition to any civil remedies available to the board. An action to
impose a civil penalty pursuant to this paragraph may be brought by
any public prosecutor in the name of the people of the state.
(c) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (b), if the
designated beneficiary of the optional settlement is a spouse or
domestic partner of the member, the application for revocation of an
optional settlement shall also evidence agreement to the revocation
by the spouse or domestic partner.
(d) After revocation, the member's retirement allowance shall be
adjusted to the amount he or she would have been entitled to receive
at retirement if his or her benefit had not been modified by the
optional settlement, adjusted by any cost-of-living increases that
would have been added to the retirement allowance. The adjusted
retirement allowance shall be effective on the first day of the month
following the month in which the member has revoked the optional
settlement. After revocation, the member's spouse shall be entitled,
as if no optional settlement had been elected by the member, to any
provision of this chapter for which the spouse qualifies including,
but not limited to, those provisions provided pursuant to Sections
31760.2, 31785.1, or 31786.
(e) After revoking an optional settlement pursuant to subdivision
(a), a retired member shall not be entitled to elect any optional
settlement pursuant to this chapter.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if a
retired member elects to revoke his or her optional settlement
election pursuant to this section, the member's retirement allowance
shall only be adjusted prospectively. The adjusted retirement
allowance shall be effective on the first day of the month following
receipt of the member's signed revocation. The member shall not be
eligible to recover any payment retroactively for any period between
the effective date of his or her retirement and the date of
revocation.
(g) The retirement system has no obligation to locate or otherwise
contact retired members who may qualify for a revocation under this
section.
(h) No actions taken pursuant to this section excuse the
obligation of a member to provide a continuing benefit to a former
spouse or other person pursuant to court order.
(i) This section is not applicable in any county until the board
of retirement, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, makes this
section applicable in the county. The board's resolution may
designate a date, which may be prior or subsequent to the date of the
resolution, as of which the resolution and this section shall be
operative in the county.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.