2007 California Government Code Article 7. Transfer Of The Award System

CA Codes (gov:50980-50986)

50980.  (a) On or before January 31, 2008, the Board of
Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System shall do
both of the following:
   (1) Notwithstanding Section 20230, divulge and transfer to the
board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit
Corporation the data and files of the Volunteer Firefighters Length
of Service Award System that relate to members or beneficiaries who
participate in the award system.
   (2) Divulge and transfer data and files that are necessary to
effect the transfer of the administration of the Volunteer
Firefighters Length of Service Award System from the Board of
Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System to the
board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit
Corporation.
   (b) On or before March 1, 2008, the Board of Administration of the
Public Employees' Retirement System and the board of the California
State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation shall take all steps
necessary to transfer the award system including, but not limited
to, all of the following:
   (1) The board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation shall select a custodian of a fund for the
transfer of funds pursuant to Section 50981 from the Board of
Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and ensure
that this custodian is available to establish an account or trust
described in Internal Revenue Service Revenue Procedure 92-64 to
receive those funds.
   (2) Complete the transfer of the assets and liabilities of the
award system as described in Section 50981.
   (3) The Board of Administration of the Public Employees'
Retirement System or the board of the California State Fire Employees
Welfare Benefit Corporation shall provide written notice of the
transfer of the award system and when the transfer will occur to
award recipients and departments that participate in the award
system. The notice described in this paragraph shall include, but is
not limited to, the contact information for the board of the
California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation, and
information that the Board of Administration of the Public Employees'
Retirement System will no longer have the responsibility to
administer the award system.
   (4) In addition to the notice described in paragraph (3), the
board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit
Corporation shall send written notice to award recipients and
departments that participate in the award system regarding the
revised rules, regulations, and procedures for the administration of
the award system.
   (5) The departments that participate in the award system shall
send written notice to their volunteers informing them of the
information described in paragraphs (3) and (4).
   (6) The board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation shall establish administrative systems and
accounts necessary to receive participant information, assets, and
liabilities that will be transferred by the Board of Administration
of the Public Employees' Retirement System.
   (c) The transfer of the award system shall be deemed complete as
of the date described in Section 50985.



50981.  (a) On or before March 1, 2008, the Board of Administration
of the Public Employees' Retirement System shall transfer any assets
held for the benefit of the award system, including, but not limited
to, cash and securities, to the custodian of a fund described in
Section 50980.
   (b) The Board of Administration of the Public Employees'
Retirement System may only deduct from the assets described in
subdivision (a) award benefit payments and reasonable administrative
expenses to cover the period up through the date of the transfer.
   (c) On or before March 1, 2008, the Board of Administration of the
Public Employees' Retirement System shall notify and send any
documents related to any liabilities of the award system, including,
but not limited to, claims, demands, actions, damages, judgments,
costs, charges, expenses, or obligations, to the board of the
California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation.



50982.  (a) In order to expedite the transfer of the award system
from the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement
System to the board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation, the board of the California State Fire Employees
Welfare Benefit Corporation shall, to the extent necessary to
transfer the award system, and prior to March 1, 2008, comply with
the following requirements:
   (1) The board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation shall maintain a plan as described in Section 457
(e)(11) of Title 26 of the United States Code.
   (2) The representatives on the board of the California State Fire
Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation shall be elected.
   (3) The representatives on the board of the California State Fire
Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation shall administer any funds with
the reasonable care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the
circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like
capacity would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like
character and with like aims.
   (4) The representatives on the board of the California State Fire
Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation shall be subject to the prudent
investor standard with regard to any funds.
   (5) Any funds shall be administered for the exclusive benefit of
members of the award system.
   (6) The board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation shall select a financial institution or other
entity that qualifies under the laws of this state to act as a
trustee of and establish a trust described in Internal Revenue
Service Revenue Procedure 92-64.
   (b) The board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation shall adopt rules and regulations regarding all
of the following:
   (1) Eligibility requirements for a member to receive an award
under the new system, including, but not limited to, minimum age and
minimum years of certified service credit.
   (2) Eligibility requirements for a member to include certified
prior service credit as certified service credit in calculating the
amount of his or her award or to qualify for an award under the new
system.
   (3) The amount of an award under the new system and any
cost-of-living adjustments or supplemental payments based upon that
award.
   (4) Eligibility requirements for membership in the award system.
   (5) The maximum years of certified service credit a member may
accrue under the award system.
   (6) Other rules and regulations that the board of the California
State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation determines are
appropriate.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the assets received from the
Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System by
the board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit
Corporation attributable to the benefit of registered volunteers of a
department are subject to the claims of creditors of the department
in the case of the insolvency of the department. Any assets that are
not attributable to the benefits of registered volunteers of an
insolvent department are not subject to the claims of the creditors
of the insolvent department.
   (d) Data filed by a member or department with the board of the
California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation is
confidential, and no individual record shall be divulged by an
official or employee having access to that data to a person other
than the member to whom the information relates or his or her
authorized representative, or the department that employs the member.

   (e) The custodian of a fund described in Section 50980, subject to
the exclusive control of the board of the California State Fire
Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation to administer and invest the
assets of the new system fund, shall be a financial institution
eligible to establish and administer a trust described in Internal
Revenue Service Revenue Procedure 92-64. The assets in a fund for the
new system shall be used to pay the costs of administration and for
the payment of awards under the new system.



50983.  Present, future, and former board members of the Public
Employees' Retirement System, jointly and individually, and state
officers and employees, shall be indemnified from the General Fund as
described in Section 16641.5 as a result of the transfer of the
award system from the Board of Administration of the Public Employees'
Retirement System to the board of the California State Fire
Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation.



50984.  The Board of Administration of the Public Employees'
Retirement System shall not be liable for any action or failure to
act by the board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation. Upon transfer of the award system, the board of
the California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation shall
assume all responsibilities and liabilities related to the award
system.



50985.  For purposes of this chapter, if the Board of Administration
of the Public Employees' Retirement System transfers the data and
files to the board of the California State Fire Employees Welfare
Benefit Corporation as described in Section 50980, the transfer of
the award system shall be deemed complete on the date that the Board
of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System
transfers the assets of the system as described in Section 50981,
regardless of whether the notices described in paragraphs (3) to (5),
inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 50980 are sent.



50986.  This chapter shall become inoperative on March 1, 2008, and,
as of January 1, 2009, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2009, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.