republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/sb-1203.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Retirement systems: joint powers authorities: benefit formulas."
description: "The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act and, among other provisions, establishes new retirement formulas that may not be exceeded by a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan for employees first hired on or after January 1, 2013. Existing law, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, generally authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to jointly exercise any common power, which may include hiring employees and establishing retirement systems."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "SB 1203"
citation: "California SB 1203 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Retirement systems: joint powers authorities: benefit formulas."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hertzberg"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 24
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2016-02-18"
last_action: "2016-09-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a2bda21a-5f35-4268-8cf5-6505a89ba5f8"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1203"
source_hash: "e7d3533ccdc5c61ec4c4e5a9b1e79598a4839ed69678af1af806d922a486a23f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 1203 (20152016) — Retirement systems: joint powers authorities: benefit formulas.

The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act and, among other provisions, establishes new retirement formulas that may not be exceeded by a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan for employees first hired on or after January 1, 2013. Existing law, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, generally authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to jointly exercise any common power, which may include hiring employees and establishing retirement systems.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/18/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1203&version=20150SB120399INT)
2. **03/28/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1203&version=20150SB120398AMD)
3. **04/13/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1203&version=20150SB120397AMD)
4. **09/27/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1203&version=20150SB120395CHP)
5. **SB1203** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1203)
6. **08/22/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1203&version=20150SB120396ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 1203 Hertzberg Senate Third Reading By BONTA — **74–1** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **18–1** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading — **29–4** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **3–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Hertzberg — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-18** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2016-02-19** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 20.
- **2016-03-03** Referred to Com. on P.E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-28** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on P.E. & R. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-04-06** Set for hearing April 11.
- **2016-04-12** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 3. Noes 0. Page 3497.) (April 11). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-04-13** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-04-15** Set for hearing April 25.
- **2016-04-25** April 25 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2016-05-20** Set for hearing May 27.
- **2016-05-27** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 4006.) (May 27). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-05-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-31** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 29. Noes 4. Page 4048.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-01** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2016-06-06** Referred to Com. on P.E., R., & S.S. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-29** June 29 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2016-08-12** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 18. Noes 1.) (August 11). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-18** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 74. Noes 1. Page 5922.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-19** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2016-08-24** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 5 p.m.
- **2016-09-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 729, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a2bda21a-5f35-4268-8cf5-6505a89ba5f8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).