(SACRAMENTO, CA)  --- The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California released the following statement after the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 1743 (Hernandez), requiring placement agents that do business with CalPERS or CalSTRS to be subject to the same reporting and ethics rules that govern lobbyists under the California Political Reform Act:

“The American dream of a secure retirement has been threatened by the economic crisis and the Wall Street excesses and corporate abuses that drove it.  The only way to rebuild our economy and our retirement security is with new, clear rules that prevent abuses and protect the public’s trust.

“AB 1743 is a common-sense reform that brings transparency and accountability to pension ‘placement agents’ by holding them to the same standards as lobbyists. And yet not one single Republican voted for this bill, instead choosing to protect the kind of Wall Street insider deals that enrich a few at the expense of the rest of us.

“To protect the retirement security we’ve all worked hard to earn, SEIU members will continue to lead efforts to implement common sense reforms that will improve the integrity of the pension system where public employees invest nearly $4 billion of our earnings each year.”


SEIU California is a coalition of over 700,000 janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees represented by SEIU local unions throughout California. We come together to build a better California by fighting to pass policies and elect candidates that benefit working families and advance the issues we care about: affordable healthcare, good wages, retirement security for all, a healthy environment, good schools and universities, and stronger communities. We believe that by working together we can build a California where working families can thrive again.