State Teachers' Retirement System: positions subject to membership.

The entire amendment to Section 26401 of the Education Code was dropped. This provision would have extended the deadline for employees to file Cash Balance Benefit Program election forms from 60 calendar days to 90 calendar days, both for filing with the employer and for receipt at STRS headquarters.

The operative date mechanism was simplified. The previous version required the Teachers' Retirement Board to determine the effective date based on when STRS had capacity to implement the changes and to post that date on its website by July 1, 2027. The enrolled version sets a fixed operative date of July 1, 2027 with no board discretion.

The amendment to Elections Code Section 13200 (a nonsubstantive change to ballot printing specifications) was removed from the bill entirely.

Exclusions were added: positions in noncertificated bargaining units, positions not employed by an employer as defined in Section 22131, and positions covered by PERS when held by a member who elected PERS coverage are excluded from STRS membership.

A new Education Code Section 22156.07 was added defining 'position subject to membership' for STRS, covering positions at county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, and community college districts that require credentials, licenses, permits, or certificates from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing or State Department of Health Care Services.

Charter schools eligible to receive state apportionment are now explicitly included as employers whose positions can be subject to STRS membership, including comparable positions performing functions listed in Section 44065.

Community college faculty members, academic positions, educational administrators, and positions under US Department of Defense vocational training contracts at community colleges are included as positions subject to membership.

Positions as superintendents of California public schools are added as positions subject to STRS membership.

The operative date for the new 'position subject to membership' definition was changed from a board-determined date (based on STRS implementation capacity, posted by July 1, 2027) to a fixed date of July 1, 2027.

The appropriation designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' because expanding the category of positions subject to STRS membership affects contributions to the Teachers' Retirement Fund. The fiscal committee review also changed from 'no' to 'yes.'

Employers must adopt resolutions at public meetings designating specific positions as subject to membership, and those resolutions must be in effect on the date of hire or effective retroactively to the date of hire.

The bill now amends Section 26401 of the Education Code in addition to its original nonsubstantive change to Section 13200 of the Elections Code, expanding scope from a purely technical ballot-printing fix to include substantive retirement plan election deadline changes.

The deadline for filing a Cash Balance Benefit Program election form with the employer was extended from 60 calendar days to 90 calendar days after the first day of employment or the governing board's action, whichever is later (Section 26401(a)(2)).

The deadline for the election form to be received at STRS headquarters was extended from 60 calendar days to 90 calendar days after the employee's signature (Section 26401(a)(3)).

The election period for previously excluded employees (those excluded under Section 26401.5 as of December 31, 2000) to submit their form was extended from 60 days to 90 days (Section 26401(b)(2)).

The deadline for the form to be received at STRS headquarters when a member switches back from Cash Balance to Defined Benefit coverage was extended from 60 calendar days to 90 calendar days after signature (Section 26401(c)(2)).

The fiscal committee answer changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment introduces a state fiscal impact that did not exist in the introduced version.