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, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administrated by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Existing law requires STRS to pay premiums associated with Medicare Part A for certain retired or disabled members, as specified. 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. Existing law applicable to the Defined Benefit Program, for applications and documents requiring a signature, requires that the signature be in a form prescribed by the system. This bill would apply the above-described requirements regarding signed applications and documents to the Cash Balance Benefit Program and the requirement that STRS pay certain Medicare Part A premiums. Existing law authorizes a member of STRS who is not retired and who was previously excluded from membership in the Defined Benefit Program to request to purchase service credit in the program for certain types of other service. This bill would prohibit a member from purchasing service credit for any school year if the purchase would result in more than one year of service for that school year. Existing law authorizes a member of STRS who files an application for service retirement to change or cancel their retirement application if specified requirements are met. In this regard, existing law requires a member to return the total gross distribution amount of all payments for any canceled retirement benefit, including a lump-sum payment, as specified. This bill would delete an obsolete cross-reference and would extend the requirement to return the total gross distribution amount, as described above, to apply to any canceled benefit. (2) The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System. PERL excludes specified appointees, elective officers, and legislative employees from membership in the system unless the person to whom these provisions apply elects to file with the board an election in writing to become a member. This bill would prescribe the circumstances pursuant to which the start date would be determined for an appointee, elective officer, or legislative employee who elects to become a member of PERS. If the written election is received by the system within 90 days of the applicable appointment, current term, or start date for the position, the bill would require that the effective date be the start date of the appointment, the start date of the term, or the start date of the position. If the election is not received by the system within 90 days, as specified, the effective date would be the first day of the month in which the election is received by the system. PERL authorizes certain members of PERS who are employed to perform service covered by the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan to elect to retain coverage by PERS for this service under specified conditions, including that the member submit a written election to retain coverage to PERS on a prescribed form and that a copy of the form be submitted to STRS. This bill would instead require the member to submit the election to retain coverage to the employer and would delete the requirement that a copy of the form be submitted to STRS. The bill would require the employer to retain a copy of the employee's signed election form and submit the original signed form to PERS. PERL prescribes the circumstances pursuant to which specified payments and benefits may be paid by PERS in connection with the death of a member, among others. This bill would require that overpayments, issued after the date of death to a member, retired member, or beneficiary, made to or on behalf of any member, retired member, or beneficiary, as specified, be deducted from any subsequent payment or benefit that is payable by PERS as a result of the death. Existing law, the Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) , which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System, governs the funding and provision of postemployment health care benefits for eligible retired public employees and their beneficiaries. Under PEMHCA, if specified firefighters and peace officers die as a result of injuries or disease arising in the course of their duties, their uninsured surviving spouses and eligible family members are deemed annuitants, as specified, and may be enrolled in health benefit plans. This bill would authorize, for purposes of the above-described provisions, a notification of the death of any firefighter or peace officer to come from any reliable and verifiable source. The bill would make conforming changes regarding the duties of employers in these circumstances. (3) The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) authorizes counties to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions for the purpose of providing pension, disability, and death benefits to county and district employees. CERL vests management of the retirement systems created pursuant to its provisions in a board of retirement. CERL requires the county health officer to advise the board on medical matters and, if requested, attend its meetings. This bill would authorize a county health officer's duly authorized representative to also advise the board of retirement with advice on medical matters. CERL authorizes a member of a system established under its provisions who ceases to be an employee of the county under certain provisions of the Education Code to elect to remain a member of the CERL system. This bill would correct an obsolete cross-reference in those provisions. CERL requires a board of retirement to secure medical, investigatory, and other service and advice as is necessary for the purpose of administering provisions relating to disability retirement. This bill would authorize the board to contract with a physician in private practice for the medical advice necessary to carry out the purpose of provisions relating to disability retirement. This bill would make various technical and stylistic changes.