Public employees' retirement benefits: judges.

The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) generally requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its pension plan or plans to comply with the act, as specified. Among other things, PEPRA prohibits a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan from exceeding specified retirement formulas for new members and prohibits an enhancement of a public employee's retirement formula or benefit adopted after January 1, 2013, from applying to service performed prior to the operative date of the enhancement. PEPRA defines terms for those purposes, including defining "new member" to mean, among other things, an individual who becomes a member of any public retirement system for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, and who was not a member of any other public retirement system prior to that date. Existing law creates the Judges' Retirement System II, which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System, for the provision of retirement and other benefits to specified judges and their beneficiaries. This bill would grant a judge who was elected to office in 2012, but did not take office until on or after January 1, 2013, the option of making a one-time, irrevocable election to have a pre-January 1, 2013, membership status in the Judges' Retirement System II for service accrued after on and after July 1, 2020. The bill would require the election to be made during a 30-day period beginning March 1, 2020. A judge making this election would no longer be a new member under specified provisions of PEPRA. The election would apply prospectively only, and membership rights and obligations that accrued based on service subject to PEPRA prior to July 1, 2020, would remain unchanged. The bill would specify that the Public Employees' Retirement System is not obligated to inform or locate a person who may be eligible to make the election and that its provisions do not affect the Legislature's reserved right to increase contributions or reduce benefits for purposes of the Judges' Retirement System II.