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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
SACRAMENTO—California Gov. Jerry Brown last week vetoed legislation that would have barred board members of two huge state benefit programs from receiving gifts with a value exceeding $50 from contractors.
The legislation, S.B. 439, would have applied to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which is the nation’s largest teachers’ pension fund, and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which manages retirement benefits to more than 1.6 million California public employees, retirees and their families, along with health care benefits to 1.3 million employees and their families.
Under current law, board members are barred from receiving gifts from a single source with a total value of more than $420.
In his veto message, Gov. Brown said while gifts to public officials should be disclosed and subject to monetary limits, applying new limits exclusively to CalSTRS and CalPERS would add more complexity without advancing the goals of political reform.