Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Committee History
Scope and Content
Accruals
Indexing Terms
Related Collections at the California State Archives
Related Collections at other Repositories
Note to researchers
Descriptive Summary
Title: California State Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee Records
Dates: 1969-2014, bulk 1990-2014
Collection number: LP51, LP61:3, LP102:41-42, 92-93, LP136:18, LP147:136-148, LP155:102, 106, 130-131, LP156, LP163:214, LP164:154, 169, LP165:11,
17-30, LP166, LP202:155-157, LP210:225, LP231:172-176, and LP377
Creator:
Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee
Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee
Assembly Employment and Public Employees Committee
Assembly Public Employees and Retirement Committee
Collection Size:
38.5 cubic feet of textual files and 239 audio cassette tapes
Repository:
California State Archives
Abstract: Since 1969, the Assembly has continually established a committee related to public employment, retirement, and social security.
The committee's name and responsibility have changed since this time. The overall scope and responsibilities of the committee
have essentially remained the same since its inception, focusing primarily on issues related to retirement, health care, and
employment issues involving State employees. The California State Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security
Committee records consists of 30 cubic feet of textual records of the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee,
the Assembly Employment and Public Employees Committee, the Assembly Public Employees and Retirement Committee, and the Assembly
Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Administrative Information
Access
While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.
Publication Rights
For permission to reproduce or publish, please consult California State Archives staff. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, as the owner of the physical
items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement that may arise from reproduction or publication
of materials from the California State Archives’ collections.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee Records, LP[number]:[folder
number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
Acquisition and Custodial History
The State Archives received these records in accordance with California Government Code 9080(b) which requires legislative
committees to transfer their records to the State Archives when they are no longer needed by the committee.
Committee History
Since 1969, the Assembly has continually maintained a committee related to public employment, retirement, and social security.
Although the committee’s name has changed over time, the core functions have remained constant.
The Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security had its origins as an advisory committee to the
Joint Legislative Retirement Committee, established by ACR 46 in 1966. The committee offered technical advice and expertise
to retirement and actuarial problems, assisting the Legislature with the scores of complex bills relating to the retirement
systems to which the State contributed. This committee maintained an advisory role until 1969, when the Assembly Committee
on Public Employment and Retirement was assigned the subject matter relating to the State Civil Service System, State personnel,
and public retirement systems by House Resolution 414. From 1969 to 1970, the committee was called the Assembly Committee
on Public Employment and Retirement. From 1971 to 1973, the responsibilities of the committee were split with creation of
the Assembly Committee on Employment and Public Employees and a separate committee for retirement. In 1974, the passage of
House Resolution 208 on August 31 begat a reunification of duties, creating the Assembly Committee on Public Employees and
Retirement. In 1987, it became the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security and has remained
so to the present.
The original advisory committee consisted of members selected by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Rules Committee of the
Senate, with no more than three members from each house. The number of standing committee members has shifted over the years,
fluctuating from as low as six members in 1999 to as many as eleven in 1975 and 1993-1994.
The overall scope and responsibilities of the committee have essentially remained the same since its inception, focusing primarily
on issues related to retirement, health care, and employment issues involving State employees. The primary responsibilities
of the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security involve: creating and advising on legislation
for the maintenance or revision of retirement plans and formulas for State retirement systems, creating and advising on legislation
relating to health care plans for State employees, and crafting the frameworks for regulations and procedures for bargaining
between State employees and unions.
The chairs of the committees from 1974-2014 were as follows:
Fong Eu, March K. (Dem.), 1973-1974
Dixon, Julian C. (Dem.), 1975
Deddeh, Wadie P. (Dem.), 1976-1979
Tucker, Curtis (Dem.), 1980-1982
Elder, David (Dem.), 1983-1992
Canella, Sal (Dem.), 1993-1994
Kaloogian, Howard (Rep.), 1995-1996
Knox, Wally (Dem.) 1997
Honda, Mike (Dem.), 1998
Correa, Lou (Dem.), 1999-2000
Havice, Sally (Dem.), 2001-2002
Negrete McLeod, Gloria (Dem.), 2003-2004
Torrico, Alberto (Dem.), 2005-2006
Hernandez, Edward P. (Dem.), 2007-2010
Furutani, Warren (Dem.), 2011-2012
Bonta, Rob (Dem.), 2013-2014
Arrangement
Organized into three series: (1) Bill Files, (2) Subject Files, and (3) Hearing Files.
Scope and Content
The California State Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee records consists of 38.5 cubic feet
of textual records of the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee, the Assembly Employment and Public Employees
Committee, the Assembly Public Employees and Retirement Committee, and the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social
Security Committee. The record group also includes 239 audiocassette tapes of the Assembly Public Employees and Retirement
Committee and the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee hearings. The records were created
between 1969 and 2014, with the bulk of records created between 1990 and 2014. The record group is organized into three series:
bill files, hearing files, and subject files. See the series description for further details.
Because of the size and complexity of issues relating to health care, retirement, and labor relations with State employees,
many topics and issues contained in the record group include: cost of living adjustments, actuarial evaluations, investment
strategies, medical benefits, county participation, safety member classifications, pension abuses, pension plans, and divestment
issues.
The bill files are useful for observing the development of State health and retirement systems through technical and formulaic
revisions, the expansion of medical and retirement packages and investment parameters, alterations to member and beneficiary
classifications, and the crafting of labor agreements. Technical and formulaic revisions include adjustments to the cost of
living payments and the mathematical computations for determining retirement ages. The expansion of eligible members’ medical
coverage includes a debate over inclusion of domestic partner coverage, the eligibility of newly married spouses for death
benefits, and the ongoing efforts to bring medical coverage to employees in rural areas or in counties participating under
older legislation. The bill files also contain the passing of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between labor organizations
and the State, highlighting negotiations for increased coverage, alterations in employee classifications, and negotiations
for wage and benefit modifications.
The subject files are useful for providing background information, individual analyses, public reaction, and correspondence
related to matters involving legislation or the operation of State retirement systems. These files include material on pension
abuses, namely the American River Fire District. Reforms of State pension plans include the efforts in 1991 and 1992 to initiate
structural pension plan reforms and allocate retirement funds to balance the State budget using AB 702 and the accumulation
of New York City pension plans for consideration towards potential reforms in California. Investment portfolios and financial
solvency reports contain various actuarial and fiduciary reports for the Legislators Retirement System, the Judges Retirement
System, the State Teachers Retirement System, and financial evaluations of the California Public Employees' Retirement System
(CalPERS) investment in Catellus, a redevelopment agency, provide expanded coverage of the Committee’s attempts to maintain
financial solvency of the retirement and health care plans. The investment portfolios also contain information involving the
CalPERS Home Loan Program and correspondence relating to the debate over continued association with companies in South Africa
and Arab nations that boycotted Israel.
The hearing files are useful for determining the perspectives of opposing viewpoints comprising the testimonies over CalTrans
safety, actuarial valuations and fiduciary reports, the relative strengths and weaknesses of deferred compensation programs,
the taxation of pension plans with IRS code 415 and changes to the Federal Medicare Law, efforts to develop low-cost alternatives
to PEMCHA, continued CalPERS investing in South Africa, concerns over CalPERS investments in Catellus and Drexel, Burnham,
and Lambert, and several bill hearings devoted to discussing the technical language and validity of various bill provisions.
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
California State Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security Committee
California. Public Employees’ Retirement System
Civil service - California - Pensions
Social security - Law and legislation - California
Retirement
Wages - Cost-of-living adjustments - California
Medical care
Related Collections at the California State Archives
Rob Bonta Papers (restricted)
Sal Canella Papers
Lou Correa Papers
Wadie P. Deddeh Papers
Julian C. Dixon Papers
March K. Fong Eu Papers
Sally Havice Papers
Ed Hernandez Papers
Mike Honda Papers
Howard Kaloogian Papers
Wally Knox Papers
Gloria Negrete McLeod Papers (restricted)
Alberto Torrico Papers
Curtis Tucker Papers
California State Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee Records
Related Collections at other Repositories
Additional related records may be found in the Julian Dixon Collection of the Public Officials' Collection at California State
University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90032-8300.
Note to researchers
Researchers interested in this committee are advised to check the papers of its Chairs. Committee Chairs often kept materials
relating to committee operations among their personal files. For Chair papers available at the California State Archives or
other repositories, this information can be found in the committee history.