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Senate committee advances bill to bar selective pension exclusions under County Employees' Retirement Law
Summary
Sen. Grayson’s SB 301 would stop cities or districts from amending contracts under the County Employees’ Retirement Law of 1937 to exclude specific employee groups from pension membership; committee advanced the bill without opposition.
Senator Grayson, appearing as the bill’s author, told the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement that SB 301 would “prevent cities and districts contracting under the County Employees’ Retirement Law of 1937… from amending their contracts in a way that excludes certain groups of employees.” The committee advanced the measure on a 4–0 recorded vote and placed it on call for the Senate floor.
The bill responds to a 2019 action by the City of Placentia, which the author described as exploiting a contract gap after forming its own fire department and attempting to exclude new firefighters from pension membership. Grayson said the Legislature closed an analogous CalPERS loophole in 2020 with AB 2967 but that similar protections do not exist for employees covered under the 1937 act; SB 301 would prohibit selective exclusion under those contracts.
Doug Subers of the California Professional Firefighters testified in support, saying the measure “create[s] that consistency” between statutes governing public and county employee retirement systems and that pension membership should be available to all employees of a local agency. No witnesses opposed the bill at the hearing.
Committee staff and members did not raise objections on the record; the committee assistant called the roll and recorded the committee vote as passed to the Senate floor on a 4–0 tally (Smallwood Cuevas: aye; Strickland: aye; Cortese: aye; Laird: aye). The committee placed the bill on call pending the return of absent members before final floor action.
SB 301, as presented, is narrowly focused on contract amendments under the County Employees’ Retirement Law of 1937 and does not change CalPERS law directly. The bill’s author and supporters framed it as an equity and pension-consistency measure rather than a benefit expansion.
The committee did not identify a deadline or appropriation tied to the bill in the hearing record. Future steps noted on the record: referral to the Senate floor and further floor consideration.
