Sec. 189.  Authority of City Council to Establish Certain, Benefits by Ordinance.

(a)  Purpose of this Section.

It is the purpose of this section to enable the City Council of the City of Los Angeles to provide by ordinance a program or programs whereby persons receiving pensions pursuant to the provisions of this article may become eligible to have subsidy payments made on their behalf for health insurance, accident insurance, life insurance or health care plan coverage or coverage for any combination of such programs as determined by the City Council and subject to such conditions of entitlement as may be set forth in any ordinance adopted in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(b)  Mode of Adoption of Ordinance.

Ordinances adopted pursuant to this section must be approved by not less than two-thirds of the membership of the Council, subject to the veto of the Mayor and readoption by the Council in the same manner as other ordinances requiring a two-thirds vote. No such ordinance may be finally adopted by the Council until the expiration of at least thirty days after its first presentation to the Council, nor until after a public hearing has been held thereon.

Any ordinance adopted pursuant to this section shall go into effect upon its publication, but the terms of such ordinance, or portions thereof, may be operative at a later date or dates.  (Amended, 1995.)

(c)  Limitations on City Council’s Authority.

An ordinance adopted pursuant to this section may not provide for subsidy payments for any individual, the total amount of which, including subsidy payments from a city fund or funds other than those created under Section 186 of this article, would be in excess of the maximum available subsidy payment for beneficiaries under the provisions of any ordinance adopted pursuant to the authority of Section 512.2 of this Charter, nor may such subsidy payments be in excess of any amounts allowed active members of the Fire and Police Pension System.

Any subsidy program adopted by ordinance pursuant to this section shall be administered by the Board of Pension Commissioners. In furtherance thereof, the Board shall have the authority to contract for suitable programs as hereinabove defined in Subsection (a) hereof, to be made available to retired members or other beneficiaries, and shall have the power to adopt such rules as it deems necessary to administer such programs.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the Board may authorize the Personnel Department to administer any program or part thereof established by ordinance pursuant to the provisions of this section, provided, however, that the Board shall reimburse the General Fund of the City of Los Angeles for all necessary expenses incurred by the Personnel Department as a result thereof.

The Board, in its discretion, may by resolution increase or decrease the amount of subsidy payments on the following conditions only:  (1)  to reflect changes in subsidies provided for active members or  (2)  to offset any increases or decreases in the level of benefits referred to in Subsection (a) of this section or the cost thereof as a result of changes in existing benefits or the addition of newly created benefits by federal or state funded programs.

(d)  The provisions of Section 180 hereafter shall be construed and applied in accordance with the provisions of this section.  (Sec. repealed, 1951; Added, 1974.)