Bill to raise funeral benefit is vetoed

Sacramento, CA - A bill that would have authorized the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to adjust the current $2,000 post-retirement death benefit for state and school retirees was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 26.
AB 1878 by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, sought to increase the funeral benefit to reflect changes in the All Urban California Consumer Price Index.
The death benefit was first paid in 1945 and it was last raised in 2000 to $2,000.
In 2014, the median cost for a funeral was $7,181, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.
“I don’t believe it’s prudent to add the additional costs this bill will require,” Brown wrote in his veto message.
The measure had passed the Assembly by a margin of 57-19 and the Senate by 24-12.