BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 617
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Warren T. Furutani, Chair
AB 617 (Davis) - As Introduced: February 16, 2011
SUBJECT : Public employees' retirement: postretirement death
benefits.
SUMMARY : Increases the postretirement death benefit paid to
the beneficiary of a school member of the California Public
Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) from $2,000 to $6,163.
EXISTING LAW :
The California Public Employees' Retirement Law provides varying
levels of death benefits according to membership category and
status, each providing a "lump-sum" of money to survivors at the
time of the member's death. The original lump-sum death benefit
of $300 for all retired CalPERS members was enacted in 1945.
However, over the years, the Legislature began to provide
different benefit levels to different categories of members:
state, school, local, Judges' Retirement Systems (JRS and JRS
II), Legislators' Retirement System (LRS), active, and retired.
Currently, state and school members have a retiree death benefit
of $2,000. School employers also have the ability to amend their
individual contracts with CalPERS to provide enhanced retiree
death benefits of $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000. Local members have a
minimum benefit of $500, with an option to provide up to $5,000
through contract amendment. Members of JRS have no retiree
burial benefit, while members of LRS receive $600.
The California State Teachers' Retirement System currently
provides a lump sum death payment for survivors of retired
members of $6,163. The amount of the death payment may be
adjusted by the Teachers' Retirement Board following each
actuarial valuation based on changes to the All Urban California
Consumer Price Index.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the National Funeral Directors
Association, the average cost of a regular adult funeral (not
AB 617
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including cemetery costs, grave space, monuments or markers, or
other miscellaneous costs such as obituaries or flowers) in 2009
was $6,560.
According to the sponsor, the California Federation of Teachers,
"School members of CalPERS should be provided a death benefit
that would offset the costs associated with a funeral.
Survivors of classified school members of CalPERS bear the same
funeral costs as other public servants and as such should
receive an equitable benefit as other public employees. AB 617
remedies the existing benefit inequity by providing classified
staff a benefit of the exact amount provided to other
educators."
SB 1209 (Romero) would have increased the postretirement death
benefit paid to the beneficiary of a CalPERS school member from
$2,000 to $5,000 incrementally over a period of three years with
cost of living adjustments (COLA) annually thereafter. This
bill failed passage in the Senate Public Employment and
Retirement Committee.
AB 1477 (Krekorian) of 2009, would have increased the
postretirement death benefit paid to the beneficiary of a
CalPERS school member from $2,000 to $6,163. This bill was held
in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 844 (Negrete McLeod) of 2005 would have increased the
postretirement death benefit for state members of CalPERS who
retired on or before July 1, 2006 from $2,000 to $5,000. This
bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 2688 (Alquist) of 2002, would have increased the various
death benefits paid to all members and retirees in the
retirement systems administered by CalPERS to $7,500. This bill
was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1162 (Alquist) of 2001, would have increased from $2,000 to
$5,000 the lump sum death benefit available to retired CalPERS
state and school members who retired on or before July 3, 2002,
and whose death occurred on or after January 1, 2001.
AB 50 (Migden), Chapter 947, Statutes of 2000, raised the death
benefit for retired school members from $600 to $2,000.
AB 1829 (Correa) of 2000, would have increased the death benefit
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for both state and school members who retired prior to July 3,
2001 to $5,000. This bill was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
AB 1640 (Migden), Chapter 296, Statutes of 1998, authorized
school employers and contracting agencies the option to amend
their contract to provide a $2,000, $3,000, $4,000, or $5,000
lump sum retired member death benefit.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Federation of Teachers (Sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957