BILL NUMBER: SJR 21INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe (Coauthor: Senator Vargas) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Block and Hueso) MARCH 6, 2012 Relative to federal tax exemptions. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SJR 21, as introduced, Kehoe. Federal tax exemptions: retirement funds. This measure would urge the Congress of the United States and the President to amend the United States Internal Revenue Code to allow all retirees who have contributed to a qualified retirement plan the option to treat funds from those plans used to pay medical and long-term care premiums as tax-free rollovers. This measure would also urge the Congress of the United States and the President to create parity among all workers by presenting qualified retirement plan participants with the same option given to public safety members under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, On August 17, 2006, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 was signed into law by President George W. Bush, granting eligible public safety officers the ability to use a portion of their qualified retirement plan to pay for medical and long-term care premiums tax free; and WHEREAS, There is no option for nonpublic safety officers or public safety officers who retire under full retirement age to use their qualified retirement plan funds to pay for medical and long-term care premiums tax free; and WHEREAS, The cost of health care has risen faster than the pace of inflation for more than 20 years; and WHEREAS, The population continues to age and to live longer necessitating adequate health care and long-term care and the funds to pay for these services; and WHEREAS, Tax-free distributions for health care premiums allow the benefit of reducing the burden of an essential expense to apply to all public and private sector employees; and WHEREAS, This act could encourage people to save more now, potentially reducing the burden on government health care resources in the future; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the Congress and the President to amend the United States Internal Revenue Code to allow all retirees who have contributed to a qualified retirement plan the option to treat funds from those plans used to pay medical and long-term care premiums as tax-free rollovers; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Congress and the President to create parity among all workers by presenting all qualified retirement plan participants with the same option given to public safety members under the Pension Protection Act of 2006; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, to the Secretary of the Department of Labor, and to the author for appropriate distribution.