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SB-1022 Public Employees’ Retirement System: administration.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 09/24/2018 09:00 PM
SB1022:v95#DOCUMENT

Senate Bill No. 1022
CHAPTER 732

An act to amend Sections 20230, 20570, and 20571 of the Government Code, relating to public employees’ retirement.

[ Approved by Governor  September 23, 2018. Filed with Secretary of State  September 23, 2018. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1022, Pan. Public Employees’ Retirement System: administration.
(1) Existing law, the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL), vests the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System with the responsibility of administering the Public Employees’ Retirement System. PERL provides that data filed by a member or beneficiary with the board is confidential, subject to certain exceptions, and is to be used only for carrying PERL into effect.
This bill would specify that the confidentiality provisions, described above, apply to the Public Employees Medical and Hospital Care Act, which the board also administers, and would make conforming changes to account for this and to account for school district and university employer categories currently in effect. The bill would authorize the confidentiality of provisions of records connected to the beneficiary of a member or retired member who is or was employed by the entity. The bill also would authorize data to be used in connection with related reporting and notice obligations.
(2) PERL prescribes a process by which an agency that is a contracting member of the system may terminate its contract, including requiring the adoption by the relevant governing body of a resolution giving notice of intention to terminate and adopting an ordinance or resolution not less than one year thereafter terminating the contract. PERL prescribes analogous processes for joint contracts with counties and trial courts and for contracts that were made pursuant to an ordinance adopted by a vote of the electorate.
This bill would require terminating entities, as described above, to notify past and present employees who are members, former members, or retired members of the system, within 30 days of the adoption of the resolution giving notice of intention to terminate and, with regard to contracts that were approved by the electorate, to make notification of a pending vote to terminate at least 90 days before the date of the vote. The bill would require that the ordinance or resolution terminating the contract be adopted not less than 90 days and not more than one year after the system’s receipt of the resolution giving notice of intention to terminate. The bill would prohibit the termination effective date from being earlier than the date of adoption of the ordinance or resolution terminating the contract. The bill would require the board to provide contact information in a specified format to contracting agencies for the purpose of providing notice to past employee members, former members, and retired members and would prescribe a process in this regard. The bill would immunize contracting agencies for failure to provide notice if the contact information is incomplete or incorrect.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 20230 of the Government Code is amended to read:

20230.
 (a) Data filed with the board by any member, retired member, beneficiary, or annuitant is confidential, and an individual record shall not be divulged by any official or employee having access to it to any person other than the following:
(1) The member, retired member, beneficiary, or annuitant to whom the information relates, or his or her authorized representative.
(2) A contracting agency, school district, or the university, if the member, retired member, beneficiary, or annuitant is or was employed by that entity. A contracting agency, school district, or the university may also be provided with records that relate to the beneficiary of a member or retired member who is or was employed by the entity.
(3) Any state department or agency, or the university.
(b) The information shall be used by the board for the sole purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this part and Part 5 (commencing with Section 22750). Any information that is requested to which this section applies shall be treated as confidential and shall be used solely for retirement purposes, including, but not limited to, the administration and funding of retirement and health benefits, and related reporting and notice obligations.
(c) The gross amount of any benefit or any refund of a PERS contribution due to a member, retired member, or beneficiary under this part is not confidential and may be released upon request to the board.
(d) The board may seek reimbursement for reasonable administrative expenses incurred when providing information. Except as provided by this section, a member’s, retired member’s, beneficiary’s, or annuitant’s address, home telephone number, or other personal information shall not be released.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Annuitant” has the meaning provided in Section 22760.
(2) “Authorized representative” includes a spouse or a beneficiary if a contrary appointment has not been made and when, in the opinion of the board, the member, retired member, beneficiary, or annuitant is prevented from appointing an authorized representative because of mental or physical incapacity or death.

SEC. 2.

 Section 20570 of the Government Code is amended to read:

20570.
 (a) (1) If the contract has been in effect for at least five years and was approved by an ordinance or resolution adopted by the governing body of the contracting agency, the governing body may terminate it by completing all of the following:
(A) Adopting a resolution giving notice of intention to terminate.
(B) Notifying, in writing, the contracting agency’s past and present employees, who are members, former members, or retired members of the system, within 30 days of the adoption of the resolution giving notice of intention to terminate.
(i) Within seven days of receipt of the resolution noticing the contracting agency’s intention to terminate, the board shall provide the contracting agency with contact information data in its possession for the purpose of providing past employee members, former members, and retired members the notice required by this subparagraph. The contact information data shall be provided to the contracting agency in an open format that is platform independent, machine readable, retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used Internet search applications.
(ii) Within 14 days of receipt of the contact information data described in clause (i), the contracting agency shall provide written notice to past employee members, former members, and retired members of the adoption of the resolution giving notice of intention to terminate.
(iii) The contracting agency shall not be liable for failure to provide the notice required pursuant to this subparagraph to a member if the contact information data received for that member is incomplete or incorrect.
(C) Adopting an ordinance or resolution terminating the contract, not less than 90 days and not more than one year after the system’s receipt of the resolution giving notice of intention to terminate, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the governing body.
(2) Termination shall be effective with board approval on the date designated in the ordinance or resolution terminating the contract, provided that the effective date of termination shall not be earlier than the date the governing body adopts the ordinance or resolution terminating the contract.
(b) (1) If the contract is a joint contract and the joint contract has been in effect for at least five years, the contract may be terminated by completing all of the following:
(A) Adopting trial court and county resolutions giving notice of intention to terminate.
(B) Notifying, in writing, the trial court’s and county’s past and present employees, who are members, former members, or retired members of the system, within seven days of the adoption of the resolutions giving notice of intention to terminate.
(i) Within seven days of receipt of the trial court and county resolutions noticing their intention to terminate, the board shall provide each contracting agency with contact information data in its possession for the purpose of providing its past employee members, former members, and retired members the notice required by this subparagraph. The contact information data shall be provided to the contracting agency in an open format that is platform independent, machine readable, retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used Internet search applications.
(ii) Within 14 days of receipt of the contact information data described in clause (i), each contracting agency shall provide written notice to its past employee members, former members, and retired members of the adoption of the resolution giving notice of intention to terminate.
(iii) A contracting agency shall not be liable for failure to provide the notice required pursuant to this subparagraph to a member if the contact information data received for that member is incomplete or incorrect.
(C) Adopting ordinances or resolutions terminating the joint contract, not less than 90 days and not more than one year after the system’s receipt of the resolution giving notice of intention to terminate, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the governing body of the county, and by the presiding officer of the trial court.
(2) Termination shall be effective with board approval on the date designated in the ordinance terminating the contract, provided that the effective date of termination shall not be earlier than the date the governing body of the county and the presiding officer of the trial court adopts or approves the ordinance or resolution terminating the contract, whichever is later.

SEC. 3.

 Section 20571 of the Government Code is amended to read:

20571.
 (a) If the contract has been in effect for at least five years and was approved by an ordinance adopted by a majority vote of the electorate, termination by the contracting agency may be effected not less than 90 days and not more than one year after authority has been granted by ordinance adopted by a majority vote of the electorate of the contracting agency voting thereon.
(b) Termination shall be effective with board approval on the date designated in the ordinance terminating the contract, provided that the termination effective date shall not be earlier than the date of the vote of the electorate.
(c) The contracting agency shall notify in writing its past and present employees and retirees, who are members, former members, or retired members of the system, of the pending vote of the electorate on the proposed termination of the contract at least 90 days before the date of the vote.
(1) Within seven days of receipt of a request from the contracting agency to fulfill its duties under this subdivision, the board shall provide the contracting agency with contact information data in its possession for the purpose of providing past employee members, former members, and retired members the notice required by this subparagraph. The contact information data shall be provided to the contracting agency in an open format that is platform independent, machine readable, retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used Internet search applications.
(2) The contracting agency shall not be liable for failure to provide the notice required pursuant to this subparagraph to a past employee member, former member, or retired member if the contact information data received for that member is incomplete or incorrect.