December 8, 2016

November 10, 2016

The CalPERS’ Finance and Administration Committee at its meeting next Tuesday will discuss the results of a survey it conducted of contracting employers, hopefully spurring a discussion of an earlier-than-planned drop in its current discount rate of 7.5 percent. The survey was intended to gauge public agencies’ awareness of CalPERS’ ongoing discussion of its discount rate and the ability of individual agencies to absorb increased contribution rates over the next 12 months should that rate be lowered.

September 15, 2016

Following several months of stakeholder meetings and negotiations with the author and Administration, Senate Bill 1160, by Senator Tony Mendoza, now awaits action by Governor Brown. The bill would make substantial changes to the workers’ compensation utilization review process and purports to modernize data collection while making it more difficult to file fraudulent liens.

September 2, 2016

The 2015-16 Legislative Session gaveled out on August 31. Overall, Employee Relations and Administrative Services related bills fared well, and CSAC will continue to advocate for counties as the Governor considers signing or vetoing legislation. The following is a list of hot bills in the Employee Relations and Administrative Services area that were active right up until adjournment.

August 18, 2016

A recent ruling from the Second Appellate Court adds to the case law related to “strategic lawsuits against public participation” (a.k.a. SLAPP) and the Brown Act. Last week’s Bulletin also included a story about a court case related to SLAPP and local governments. The information below is about a different case and a different issue.

August 4, 2016

July 28, 2016

A recent ruling out of the Court of Appeals delves into the issue of which type of law enforcement investigatory records are protected under the Pitchess case. The court ultimately determined that if the record is not generated in connection with an officer’s appraisal or discipline, it is not protected by Pitchess.

July 14, 2016

The California Department of Industrial Relations Director Christine Baker said that current claims of gender discrimination in the workers’ compensation system are unfounded and may undermine successful reforms. A recent class action lawsuit alleges gender discrimination, but Director Baker says these claims are without merit.

June 30, 2016

State Controller Betty T. Yee on Tuesday updated the “Government Compensation in California” website, which posts compensation data for more than 5,000 public employers in California. Public employers are required to submit compensation data for each employee and elected officials as a result of AB 341 (2015) which amended Government Code §53891 to require complete reports of compensation for the previous year to be submitted to the Controller by April 30.

CalPERS benefits for reinstated employees

AB 2028 (Cooper) Watch

June 9, 2016

A recent ruling from the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeals illustrates some potential pitfalls with litigation related to the Brown Act. The Brown Act “authorizes an interested person to commence a lawsuit…. to determine the applicability of the Brown Act to ongoing actions or threatened future actions of the legislative body.”

June 2, 2016

CSAC’s next webinar will explore how counties can make sure they comply with the newest Public Records Act requirement, put in place by last year’s SB 272 by Senator Hertzberg.

Counties face a July 1 deadline to comply with the new law, which requires counties and other public agencies to create a list of the “enterprise systems” maintained by every department, along with information such as what data is kept there, how often the data is updated, and who the system’s vendor is.

May 26, 2016

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC), headed by Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez and Senator Richard Roth, met this week to discuss audit requests from various legislators.

May 20, 2016

April 29. 2016

CSAC is opposing a bill that would allow retirement systems operating under the County Employees’ Retirement Law of 1937 (known as ’37 Act counties) to essentially operate independently from its respective county without any input from the county Board of Supervisors. The Urban Counties Caucus (UCC) and the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) are also opposed to the bill. 

April 8, 2016

SB 897 (Roth) was heard and passed by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on April 6. The bill would allow public safety employees an additional year of a leave of absence without loss of salary (commonly known as 4850 benefits) when injured by a “severe” “catastrophic injury” at the hands of another.