Public employees' retirement: airport police officers.

Under the Public Employees' Retirement Law, employees of contracting agencies classified as local safety members are entitled to generally higher benefits, and subject to higher contribution rates, than those employees classified as local miscellaneous members. Existing law authorizes contracting agencies to include specified harbor and port patrol officers within the local safety member classification. Member contributions are deposited in the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would authorize contracting agencies to include specified airport law enforcement officers within the local safety member classification. The bill would exclude these airport law enforcement officers who are classified as local safety members from participation in the federal Social Security Act. The bill would make an appropriation by increasing the amount of employee contributions to the continuously appropriated Public Employees' Retirement Fund.