BILL NUMBER: AB 1519 CHAPTERED BILL TEXT CHAPTER 15 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 15, 2012 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JUNE 15, 2012 PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 4, 2012 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 6, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wieckowski JANUARY 17, 2012 An act to add Section 31522.8 to the Government Code, relating to county employees' retirement. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1519, Wieckowski. County employee retirement boards. The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 prescribes the rights, benefits, and duties of members of the retirement systems established pursuant to its provisions. The act vests the management of these systems in retirement boards, and sets forth the membership and qualifications of the boards. Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county in which the assets of the retirement system exceed $800,000,000 to, by resolution, establish a board of investments, which would be responsible for all investments of the retirement system. This bill would require a retirement board and a board of investments to adopt a policy for providing education for members of retirement boards, as specified, and would require all board members to receive a minimum of 24 hours of board member education within the first 2 years of assuming office and for every subsequent 2-year period in which the person serves on the board. The bill would require each board to maintain a record of a board member's compliance with the policy and to post the policy and an annual report on board member compliance on the retirement system's Internet Web site. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 31522.8 is added to the Government Code, to read: 31522.8. A board of retirement and a board of investments subject to this article shall adopt a policy for providing education to board members. The policy, at a minimum, shall do the following: (a) Identify appropriate topics for board member education, which may include, but is not limited to, the following: (1) Fiduciary responsibilities. (2) Ethics. (3) Pension fund investments and investment program management. (4) Actuarial matters. (5) Pension funding. (6) Benefits administration. (7) Disability evaluation. (8) Fair hearings. (9) Pension fund governance. (10) New board member orientation. (b) Establish a means for determining the programs, training, and educational sessions that qualify as board member education. Educational seminars sponsored by the state or national public pension fund organizations and seminars sponsored by accredited academic institutions shall be deemed to meet board member education requirements. (c) Require that all board members receive a minimum of 24 hours of board member education within the first two years of assuming office and for every subsequent two-year period the board member continues to hold membership on the board. (d) Require each board to maintain a record of board member compliance with the policy. The policy and an annual report on board member compliance shall be placed on the Internet Web site of the retirement system.