Public employees' retirement.

(1) Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, creditable service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administered by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Existing law creates the Teachers' Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for specified purposes, into which certain moneys are deposited, including employee contributions. Existing law requires employers and employees to make contributions to the system based on the member's creditable compensation. Existing law defines terms for the purposes of STRS. Existing law defines "retired member activities" to mean one or more of specified identified activities within the California public school system and performed by a member retired for service under STRS, as prescribed. This bill, commencing July 1, 2027, would redefine "retired member activities" to mean all service performed within the California public school system by a member retired for service under STRS when the member is employed in specified positions, including as an employee or independent contractor. (2) Existing law defines "sick leave days," "basic sick leave day," and "excess sick leave days" for purposes of STRS. For specified standards concerning service credit that are expressed only in terms of hours, existing law requires the number of hours to be divided by 6 to determine the number of sick days. This bill would delete the above provision on calculating the number of hours. The bill would instead provide that, when determining the number of days, including for those identified standards, one day shall be equivalent to the number of hours of creditable service performed in a day in that position on a full-time basis, but no less than 6 hours. (3) Existing law requires the retirement board and employees of STRS to discharge their duties with respect to the system and the plan solely in the interest of the members and beneficiaries, as specified. This includes by diversifying the investments of the plan so as to minimize the risk of large losses unless under the circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so. This bill would revise that provision to instead require diversifying the investments of the plan so as to minimize the risk of loss and to maximize the rate of return unless under the circumstances it is clearly not prudent to do so. (4) Existing law requires employers to make available criteria for membership, including optional membership, in a timely manner to all persons employed to perform creditable service subject to coverage by the Defined Benefit Program and to inform part-time and substitute employees, within 30 days of the date of hire, or by March 1, 1995, whichever is later, that they may elect membership in the plan's Defined Benefit Program at any time while employed. This bill would shorten the above-described timeframe for notifying those employees to within 10 working days of the date of hire. (5) Existing law establishes the circumstances in which a member who is eligible and applies for a disability allowance or retirement may apply to receive a service retirement allowance pending the determination of their application for disability. Under those provisions, a member who applies for service retirement in these circumstances does not receive service credit for each day of accumulated or unused leave of absence for illness or injury or for education, as specified. This bill would also provide that a member who applies for retirement under those provisions shall not receive an additional 2 years of service credit granted in specified circumstances. Existing law requires the retirement board to determine a date based on when the system has the capacity to implement specified changes to the above provisions. Existing law further requires the board to post that date on its website no later than January 1, 2026. This bill would delete the above-described language. (6) Existing law provides that a service retirement allowance becomes effective upon any date designated by the member, provided all of specified conditions are met. This includes a requirement that the member file an application for service retirement on a form provided by STRS, executed no earlier than 6 months before the effective date of the member's retirement allowance. This bill would also require the application for service retirement allowance to be received by STRS within 30 days after the date of the member's signature and, if applicable, the spouse's or registered domestic partner's signature. Existing law permits a member who files an application for service retirement to change or cancel their retirement application if certain conditions are met. Existing law requires that the form provided by STRS be received by the system no later than 30 days from the date the member's initial benefit payment for the member's most recent retirement under the Defined Benefit Program is paid by the system. This bill would also require that the form be received by STRS within 30 days after the date of the member's signature and, if applicable, the spouse's or registered domestic partner's signature. The bill would additionally authorize a member to elect to change a retirement annuity from the defined Benefit Supplement Program to a lump-sum payment any time after retirement, subject to using a form provided by the system and meeting other specified requirements. Existing law requires the retirement board to determine a date based on when the system has the capacity to implement specified changes to these provisions and to post the date on its website no later than January 1, 2026. This bill would delete the above-described language. (7) Existing law specifies the amount a member is to receive upon retirement for service following reinstatement, which is based on specified factors. Existing law also specifies circumstances in which a member who reinstates and performs other creditable service is entitled to a service retirement allowance. Existing law also specifies the amount a member is entitled to receive upon retirement for service following a prior disability retirement, as prescribed. This bill would require benefits calculated pursuant to the above provisions to be modified by an option if elected pursuant to that law. (8) Existing law authorizes the retirement board to declare an additional earnings credit to be applied to Defined Benefit Supplement accounts for a plan year, subject to certain considerations by the board. Existing law requires the board to specify, for any plan year for which it declares an additional earnings credit, the amount to be added to members' accounts as a percentage increase. Existing law prohibits additional earnings credit from being added to the balance of credits transferred from a member's Defined Benefit Supplement account to the Annuitant Reserve. This bill would delete the above-described provision prohibiting additional earnings credit from being added to the balance of credits transferred. (9) Existing law requires a member's retirement benefit under the Defined Benefit Supplement Program to be an amount equal to the balance of credits in the member's Defined Benefit Supplement account on the date the retirement benefit becomes payable. Existing law requires the retirement benefit to be a lump-sum payment or an annuity payable in monthly installments, or a combination thereof. This bill would establish specified conditions if a member elects to change their retirement annuity from the Defined Benefit Supplement Program to a lump-sum payment, including providing for termination of payment of the annuity based on the balance of credits and making the election irrevocable. (10) Existing law provides that benefits payable to participants or beneficiaries of STRS are subject to limits imposed by specified provisions of federal law and shall not exceed those limitations. This bill, commencing July 1, 2027, for a STRS participant subject to the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013, would specify those limits for participants whose service is included in federal social security and those whose service is not subject to social security. The bill would make those provisions subject to annual changes in the consumer price index and other conditions. The bill, commencing July 1, 2027, would also redefine various terms applicable to STRS and would make other related changes to those provisions. (11) Existing law, the Public Employees' Retirement Law, creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System. PERS provides defined benefits to its members based on their final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. Existing law establishes the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, which is a trust fund that is appropriated continuously for specified purposes, into which certain moneys are deposited, including employee contributions. Existing law authorizes a member of PERS to elect to receive service credit for certain public service outside the system, including time served employed under specified governmental fellowship programs or as a volunteer in the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps, by making specified contributions to the system. This bill would also authorize a member to receive service credit for public service, not to exceed one year, as a fellow with the California Council on Science and Technology, subject to making the required contributions for that service. Existing law, for purposes of PERS benefits, defines "state safety member" in specified provisions to include officers and employees of certain state departments in listed employment classifications, identified by classification code. This bill would revise those definitions to include officers and employees of the California Correctional Health Care Services in listed classifications. Among other changes, the bill would remove obsolete employment classification references and would update classification terms and codes. (12) Existing law, the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, authorizes counties to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions in order to provide pension benefits to county, city, and district employees and their beneficiaries. Existing law sets forth the membership composition for boards of retirement and boards of investment, as specified. Existing law requires specified members of the retirement board to be active members of the association elected by it. This bill would revise the above provisions to require those board members to be elected by those active members. The bill would also redefine "active member" to specify that it refers to a member in county service, as otherwise defined, and would make related changes to other definitions under that law. Existing law, for the County of Los Angeles, establishes certain legal obligations of the retirement system to its members and their beneficiaries. Existing law specifies that, for purposes of payments into or out of the retirement fund for adjustment of errors or omissions, the period of limitation of actions is 3 years. Existing law also establishes a 10-year period of limitation for cases in which payment is erroneous because of the death of the retired member or beneficiary or because of remarriage or due to fraudulent reports of compensation, as specified. This bill would establish similar obligations applicable for counties other than Los Angeles. The bill would specify that in cases in which payment is erroneous because of the death of the retired member or beneficiary or because of the remarriage of the beneficiary, the period of limitation of actions shall be 10 years. The bill would also provide a 10-year limitation period for cases in which payment has been made as a result of fraudulent reports, as specified. The bill would make various other related and conforming changes to these retirement provisions. (13) By increasing the contributions to continuously appropriated retirement funds, the bill would make an appropriation.