BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: SB 114
Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair
HEARING DATE: August 29, 2012
SB 114 (Yee) as amended 8/22/12 FISCAL: YES
TEACHERS' RETIREMENT
HISTORY :
Sponsor: California Federation of Teachers
Other legislation: SB 1016 (Budget and Fiscal Review
Committee)
Chapter 38, Statues of 2012
ASSEMBLY VOTES :
PER & SS 6-0 7/03/12
Appropriations 17-0 8/08/12
Assembly Floor 68-128/27/12
SUMMARY :
Beginning July 1, 2013, SB 114 would require community
college districts to submit collective bargaining agreements
or employment agreements for part-time instructors and adult
education instructors to the California State Teachers'
Retirement System (CalSTRS) in order to facilitate the
accurate reporting of creditable hours worked by CalSTRS
covered employees working on a part-time basis.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS :
1) Existing Law :
To be eligible for mandatory coverage in the CalSTRS
Defined Benefit (DB) Program, community college and adult
education instructors must do creditable service work equal
to at least 50 percent of the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) of
a full time position as referenced by the employer in its
collective bargaining agreement. FTE is subject to the
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bargaining agreement but the education code sets a minimum
standard for FTE of 525 hours per school year for community
college instructors and 875 hours per school year for adult
education instructors. The actual standard could be
greater, but not be less, depending on the FTE hours
determined in the bargaining agreement. Current law
requires the employee bargaining agreement to state the
applicable FTE within the agreement. Part-time instructors
covered under the DB Program are credited with CalSTRS
service on a pro rata basis as defined. Part-time
instructors who work less than 50 percent of the FTE are
excluded from the DB program but may be eligible for the
Cash Balance Benefit Program (CBBP) or other alternative
retirement program.
Under existing law, districts are not required to provide
copies of collective bargaining or employment contract
agreements to CalSTRS except upon request on a case by case
basis.
2) This bill :
SB 114 requires community college districts to submit
copies of each collective bargaining agreement or
employment agreement that applies to a part-time community
college or adult education instructor subject to the FTE
minimum. The copies shall be provided electronically in a
format determined by CalSTRS to ensure the security of the
transmitted member data and are to be submitted annually on
or before July 1, 2013, or on or before the effective date
of the collective bargaining agreement, whichever is later.
FISCAL :
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, SB 114
would result in minor and absorbable costs for CalSTRS.
COMMENTS :
1) Argument in Support
According to the Sponsor, SB 114 "will help part-time faculty
attain the retirement credits they deserve by clarifying the
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method that districts will use in reporting their salaries to
CalSTRS".
According to CalSTRS, a significant issue in the
participation of part-time employees in the CalSTRS DB plan
has been the difficulty in reporting compensation in order to
establish appropriate levels of service credit. Some
districts are uniformly applying the statutory minimum FTE to
all part-time employees to calculate their part-time
employees' compensation earnable even though their bargaining
agreements may specify a different FTE for different classes
of employees. In effect, the districts' reporting method
results in some part-time employees receiving less service
credit in CalSTRS than they are due under the bargaining
agreement. If CalSTRS can obtain copies of the bargaining
agreement, it can apply the correct compensation earnable for
the part-time employees.
2) Arguments in Opposition
According to the Department of Finance, SB 114 could increase
reimbursable state mandated costs by thousands to tens of
thousands of dollars in Proposition 98 General Fund by
requiring community college districts to submit bargaining
agreements to CalSTRS.
3) SUPPORT :
California Federation of Teachers (CFT), Sponsor
California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Community College League of California
California Teachers Association (CTA)
California Labor Federation (CLF)
4) OPPOSITION :
Department of Finance
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