California 2017-2018 Regular Session Status: To Executive Bipartisan · 1 R · 1 D cosponsors

AB 1597 — Public employee retirement systems: prohibited investments: Turkey.

Last action — Vetoed by Governor.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2017-2018 Regular Session. It reached “To Executive” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Summary

The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. The California Constitution qualifies this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law prohibits the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and State Teachers' Retirement System from making investments in certain countries and in thermal coal companies, as specified, subject to the boards' plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the systems. This bill, upon the passage of a federal law that imposes sanctions on Turkey for failure to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, would prohibit the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and State Teachers' Retirement System from making additional or new investments, or renewing existing investments, of public employee retirement funds in an investment vehicle in Turkey that is issued by the government of Turkey or that is owned, controlled, or managed by the government of Turkey. The bill would require the boards to liquidate existing investments in Turkey in these types of investment vehicles within 6 months of the passage of a federal law imposing those sanctions on Turkey. The bill would require these boards, within one year of the passage of a federal law imposing those sanctions on Turkey, to make a specified report to the Legislature and the Governor regarding these actions. The bill would specify that its provisions do not require a board to take any action that the board determines in good faith is inconsistent with its constitutional fiduciary responsibilities to the retirement system. The bill would indemnify from the General Fund and hold harmless the present, former, and future board members, officers, and employees of, and investment managers under contract with, the boards, in connection with actions relating to these investments. The bill would repeal these provisions if a determination is made by the Department of State or the Congress of the United States, or another appropriate federal agency, that the government of Turkey has officially acknowledged its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Vetoed by Governor.

  2. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.

  3. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 69. Noes 0.).

  4. In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  5. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 5946.).

  6. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  7. Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  8. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  9. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (August 16).

  10. In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

  11. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  12. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 26).

  13. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 25). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  14. Re-referred to Coms. on P.E. & R. and JUD.

  15. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

  16. Withdrawn from committee.

  17. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on P.E. & R.

  18. In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  19. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on P.E. & R.

  20. Referred to Com. on P.E. & R.

  21. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  22. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 67. Noes 0. Page 2060.)

  23. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  24. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (May 26).

  25. In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

  26. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (April 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  27. Referred to Com. on P.E., R., & S.S.

  28. From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.

  29. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 6 co-sponsors · 115 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

  • Nazarian

Co-sponsors (6)

Not signed on (115)

115 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 115 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

AB 1597 NAZARIAN Concurrence in Senate Amendments

Passed 69 Yea · 0 Nay · 11 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 49009
Democratic 15001
Republican 5001
Total 690011
% of votes cast 86%0%0%14%
How each member voted (80)
Member Party Vote
Acosta — Yea
Bigelow — Not Voting
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Yea
Holden — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Kamlager-Dove — Yea
Levine — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Melendez — Not Voting
O'Donnell — Yea
Quirk — Not Voting
Steinorth — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Daly — Yea
Frazier — Not Voting
Friedman — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Rivas — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Harper — Yea
Salas — Yea
Burke — Yea
Gray — Yea
Kiley — Not Voting
Chau — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Low — Yea
Mayes — Not Voting
McCarty — Yea
Medina — Yea
Fong — Not Voting
Voepel — Not Voting
Mullin — Yea
Baker — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Chu — Yea
Chávez — Yea
Cooper — Not Voting
Nazarian — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Thurmond — Yea
Ting — Yea
Weber — Yea
Wood — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Travis Allen — Yea
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Not Voting
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Not Voting
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea

Official roll call →

3rd Reading AB1597 Nazarian et al. By Portantino

Passed 36 Yea · 0 Nay · 4 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 31004
Democratic 5000
Total 36004
% of votes cast 90%0%0%10%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Anderson — Yea
Bates — Yea
Beall — Yea
Hill — Yea
Lara — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Vidak — Yea
Fuller — Not Voting
Cannella — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Chang — Yea
Allen — Yea
De León — Yea
Delgado — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Mitchell — Yea
Hernandez — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Monning — Not Voting
Moorlach — Not Voting
Morrell — Yea
Pan — Yea
Roth — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Wilk — Yea
Beth Gaines — Yea
Bill Berryhill — Not Voting
Mark Stone — Yea
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass

Passed 5 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4002
Democratic 1000
Total 5002
% of votes cast 71%0%0%29%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Beall — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Nielsen — Not Voting
Bates — Not Voting
Portantino — Yea
Hill — Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Placed on suspense file

Passed 7 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 6000
Democratic 1000
Total 7000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Bradford — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Bates — Yea
Beall — Yea
Hill — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

AB 1597 NAZARIAN Assembly Third Reading

Passed 67 Yea · 0 Nay · 13 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 480011
Democratic 14001
Republican 5001
Total 670013
% of votes cast 84%0%0%16%
How each member voted (80)
Member Party Vote
Acosta — Yea
Bigelow — Not Voting
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Yea
Harper — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Medina — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Steinorth — Not Voting
Waldron — Yea
Chávez — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Daly — Yea
Frazier — Not Voting
Chiu — Yea
Chu — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Holden — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Ridley-Thomas — Yea
Thurmond — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Low — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Salas — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Burke — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gray — Yea
Gomez — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Kiley — Not Voting
Levine — Yea
Fong — Not Voting
Mayes — Not Voting
Cooley — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Baker — Yea
Cooper — Not Voting
Dababneh — Yea
Melendez — Not Voting
O'Donnell — Yea
Obernolte — Not Voting
Quirk — Not Voting
Rendon — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Ting — Yea
Voepel — Not Voting
Weber — Yea
Wood — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Travis Allen — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Not Voting
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Not Voting
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass.

Passed 12 Yea · 0 Nay · 5 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 8003
Democratic 4001
Republican 0001
Total 12005
% of votes cast 71%0%0%29%
How each member voted (17)
Member Party Vote
Bigelow — Not Voting
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Not Voting
McCarty — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Gray — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Obernolte — Not Voting
Quirk — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Not Voting
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Not Voting

Official roll call →

Subjects

finance labor
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Frequently asked questions

What does AB 1597 do?
The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. The California Constitution qualifies this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law prohibits the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and State Teachers' Retirement System from making investments in certain countries and in thermal coal companies, as specified, subject to the boards' plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the systems. This bill, upon the passage of a federal law that imposes sanctions on Turkey for failure to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, would prohibit the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and State Teachers' Retirement System from making additional or new investments, or renewing existing investments, of public employee retirement funds in an investment vehicle in Turkey that is issued by the government of Turkey or that is owned, controlled, or managed by the government of Turkey. The bill would require the boards to liquidate existing investments in Turkey in these types of investment vehicles within 6 months of the passage of a federal law imposing those sanctions on Turkey. The bill would require these boards, within one year of the passage of a federal law imposing those sanctions on Turkey, to make a specified report to the Legislature and the Governor regarding these actions. The bill would specify that its provisions do not require a board to take any action that the board determines in good faith is inconsistent with its constitutional fiduciary responsibilities to the retirement system. The bill would indemnify from the General Fund and hold harmless the present, former, and future board members, officers, and employees of, and investment managers under contract with, the boards, in connection with actions relating to these investments. The bill would repeal these provisions if a determination is made by the Department of State or the Congress of the United States, or another appropriate federal agency, that the government of Turkey has officially acknowledged its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.
Who sponsors AB 1597?
AB 1597 is sponsored by Portantino, Chen, Phillip (Republican), Friedman, Gabriel, Jesse (Democratic), Nazarian, Wilk, and Travis Allen.
What is the current status of AB 1597?
This bill died with 2017-2018 Regular Session. It reached “To Executive” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track AB 1597?
Track AB 1597 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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