See Also: Index of all Measures

In 1996, voters of the City of Los Angeles adopted Charter Amendment D which changed the definition of a "qualified surviving spouse" to allow widows and widowers of firefighters and police officers who remarry to continue collecting benefits. Surviving spouses who remarried prior to December 5, 1996 were not covered by Charter Amendment D.

The Proposal

This proposed Charter amendment would allow the City, by ordinance, to provide pension benefits to those widows and widowers of firefighters and police officers who remarried before December 5, 1996. These benefits will become effective on the date that this proposed Charter amendment passes.

Meaning of Voting Yes/No

A YES vote of this measure means:

You want the Charter to be amended to allow the City to provide surviving spouse benefits to widows and widowers of firefighters and police officers who lost their benefits solely because they remarried prior to December 5, 1996.

A NO vote of this measure means:

You do not want the Charter to be amended to allow the City to provide surviving spouse benefits to widows and widowers of firefighters and police officers who lost their benefits solely because they remarried prior to December 5, 1996.

In a Special Municipal Election conducted on November 5, 1996, voters of the City of Los Angeles approved Charter Amendment D which changed the definition of a "qualified surviving spouse" to allow a widow or widower of a deceased police officer or firefighter to continue collecting pension benefits afforded to their deceased spouse even after the widow or widower remarried. However, the language of Charter Amendment D excluded surviving spouses of police officers and firefighters who remarried prior to December 5, 1996, thereby making them ineligible to collect pension benefits.

This measure would provide that a widow or widower of a deceased police officer or firefighter who remarried prior to December 5, 1996 would receive the pension benefits that are afforded to surviving spouses of deceased police officers and firefighters who remarried after December 5,
1996. In order to become effective, this proposed change to the Fire and Police Pension System requires the enactment of an ordinance, meaning that the change does not automatically become effective upon passage of this measure. Surviving spouses will only start collecting benefits on the date that this Charter amendment passes. Benefits are not retroactive.

Summary of Arguments AGAINST Charter Amendment B:

No argument against this measure was submitted.

Voters amended the charter in 1996 to allow the surviving spouses of firefighters and police officers to remarry without losing all of their pension benefits. But the change did not apply to surviving spouses who had already remarried. These people forfeited their pension benefits so they could start their lives over again.

The surviving spouse of a deceased firefighter or police officer should not be punished for choosing to remarry.

Charter Amendment B will end this injustice. It will allow those who remarried before the 1996 Charter change to receive the benefits their deceased spouse earned through their dedicated public service to the City.

Your YES vote on Charter Amendment B will rectify this omission and show that we care for the families of our courageous men and women in uniform.

Richard J. Riordan Mayor, City of Los Angeles

Michael Feuer Councilmember, 5th District

Joel Wachs Councilmember, 2nd District Member Public Safety Committee

William R. Bamattre Fire Chief, Los Angeles Fire Department

Cindy Miscikowski Councilmember, 11th District Chair, Public Safety Committee

Bernard C. Parks Chief of Police, Los Angeles Police Department

Alex Padilla Councilmember, 7th District

Mitzi Grasso President, Los Angeles Police Protective League

Rocky Delgadillo Deputy Mayor, City of Los Angeles

Kenneth E. Buzzell President, United Firefighters of Los Angeles City

(No arguments against Charter Amendment B were submitted)