State teachers' retirement.

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, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administrated by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Existing law creates the Defined Benefit Supplement Program for the purpose of providing supplemental benefits to members of the Defined Benefit Program. Existing law creates the Cash Balance Benefit Program, which is administered by the board, to provide a retirement plan for the benefit of participating employees who provide creditable service for less than 50% of full time. (1) Existing law requires the Teacher's Retirement Board to offer a midcareer retirement information program for the benefit of all members. Existing law authorizes the board, at a public meeting, to assess a fee for participating in the program and prescribes specified requirements related to a notice that the board must provide to members regarding the program, including a possible requirement for a state basic skills assessment, as specified. This bill would eliminate the authority to charge a fee and the notice requirements, as described above. (2) Existing law declares confidential the information provided by a member, participant, or beneficiary to STRS in connection with the Teachers' Retirement Law and by a participant or beneficiary in connection with the Cash Balance Benefit Program, subject to certain exceptions, including to other agencies of the state and as may be necessary to locate potential benefit recipients. This bill would expand the confidentiality provisions described above to apply to information related to health care benefits. The bill would permit the release of information to individuals and entities as necessary to validate the personal information of members, participants, and beneficiaries. (3) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or community college district to establish regulations, subject to specified requirements, to permit an employee who is a member of the Defined Benefit Plan to reduced his or her workload from full time to part time and have retirement benefits calculated as if the employee was employed full time. Existing law requires in this regard, among other things, that the member have reached 55 years of age, have 10 years of credited service, as specified, have been employed full time for the 5 school years preceding the year in which the member's workload is reduced, and that the employee and employer make contributions based on full-time employment. The bill would revise and restructure these provisions. (4) Existing law permits a beneficiary of a member of the Defined Benefit Program to waive his or her right to specified benefits, including a family allowance, that arise upon the death of an active member. This bill would authorize a beneficiary to waive his or her right to specified death benefits that arise upon the death of a retired member. The bill would prescribe requirements for various waivers, including requiring the form to include an acknowledgment that the benefit to be waived is an ongoing benefit and might otherwise exceed specified amounts. The bill would provide that the filing of the waiver constitutes a complete and immediate discharge of the obligations of the board and system, as specified. The bill would revise provisions regarding the waiver of death benefits and family allowances related to members who are not retired to require that the waiver be on a properly executed form and to provide for the discharge of the obligations of the board and system. (5) Existing law permits a member of STRS to terminate his or her retirement and reinstate in the system subject to certain requirements. Existing law permits a member to cancel the request for reinstatement, provided the system receives the cancellation within a specified time. This bill would allow a member to change his or her request to reinstate pursuant to the same provisions currently applicable to requests to cancel the reinstatement. (6) Existing law grants STRS the right of subrogation to amounts paid as disability retirement allowances, disability allowances, family allowances, and survivor benefits allowances resulting from the act of a 3rd party, other than the member's employer, as specified. Existing law calculates the amounts due based on the actuarial equivalent paid, less any amounts that the system may be obligated to pay without regard to the actions of the 3rd party. Existing law authorizes the State Compensation Insurance Fund or the Attorney General to act as agents for the Teachers' Retirement Board in compromising claims, as specified. This bill would prescribe requirements for calculating the actuarial amounts that the system paid or may be obligated to pay without regard to the acts of the 3rd party. The bill would remove references to the State Compensation Insurance Fund and the Attorney General acting as agents for the board in compromising claims. (7) Existing law permits members of the Defined Benefit Supplement Program and participants in the Cash Balance Benefit Plan to elect certain options for purposes of structuring their retirement allowances and benefits and to designate beneficiaries for these purposes. Existing law permits members, participants, and beneficiaries, in certain instances and subject to certain requirements, to select a period certain annuity as a benefit, which is payable over a period of years up to a maximum of 10. Existing law permits a nonmember spouse who is awarded a separate account in STRS to designate beneficiaries for specified accounts. Under existing law, the Defined Benefit Supplement Program and the Cash Balance Benefit Plan provide disability benefits pursuant to which a period certain annuity may be elected. Existing law permits a trust and other organizations to be beneficiaries of period certain annuities. This bill would specify that the term of a period certain annuity, as described above, is subject to life expectancy tables established pursuant to federal law. The bill would prescribe rules for calculating the remaining term of a period certain annuity when a nonmember spouse dies while receiving an annuity under the Defined Benefit Supplement Program or when a participant dies while receiving an annuity under the Cash Balance Benefit Program. The bill would authorize a nonmember spouse awarded a separate account in STRS, as described above, to designate a payee to receive payments for a period certain annuity. (8) This bill would also make various technical changes, including those regarding federal requirements for distributions after death and would prescribe times for commencement and completion regarding specified payments resulting from the death of a member.