BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1862|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1862
Author: Eng (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE : 4-1, 6/14/10
AYES: Correa, Corbett, Ducheny, Liu
NOES: Ashburn
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 6/28/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-25, 5/13/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Teachers Retirement Board: members
SOURCE : California Federation of Teachers
California Retired Teachers Association
Association of Retired Teachers
DIGEST : This bill replaces the Governor-appointed
retiree representative on the California State Teachers'
Retirement Board with an elected member to represent the
same population.
ANALYSIS :
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AB 1862
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Existing Law
1.Establishes the California State Teachers' Retirement
System (CalSTRS) which administers, through its Board,
the State Teachers' Retirement Law, and prescribes a
comprehensive system of rights and retirement benefits
for its members.
2.Authorizes the Governor to appoint five persons to the
Board, subject to confirmation by the Senate, including a
person who is either a retired member of the Defined
Benefit Program, or a retired participant of the Cash
Balance Benefit Program.
3.Delineates the criteria for the three members elected to
the Board and eligible voters. The criteria are:
A. An active member or participant who is employed by
a district providing instruction for any of grades
pre-kindergarten through 12, or by a county office of
education, in a position other than a school
administrator.
B. An active member or participant who is employed by
a district providing instruction for any of grades
pre-kindergarten through 12, or by a county office of
education.
C. An active member or participant who is employed by
a community college district.
This bill:
1.Eliminates the Governor's retiree-member appointee and
replaces that member with a retiree who is elected by the
retired members of the Defined Benefit Program and
retired participants of the Cash Balance Benefit Program,
rather than appointed by the Governor.
2.Specifies that the term for this elected member of the
board is four years commencing on January 1, 2012.
Comments
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According to CalSTRS, which has not taken a position on
this bill, "CalSTRS has held two elections since the
passage of SB 1580 (Burton), Chapter 1049, Statutes of
2002. The first was in 2003, and the most recent was in
2007. CalSTRS contracts with an election vendor who
prepares ballots and prints the candidate statements. The
vendor carries out the elections as set forth by
regulations adopted by the Board, including mailing and
tabulating the ballots. Currently, active members and
participants are eligible to serve as a candidate, nominate
candidates, and ultimately vote in elections. The voter
eligibility requirements are set forth in the Notice of
Election published by the Board with input from the
Election Coordinator. Eligible members can vote by mail,
phone or Internet."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Election costs $0 $75
$0 Special*
*Teachers Retirement Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/10)
California Federation of Teachers (co-source)
California Retired Teachers Association (co-source)
Association of Retired Teachers (co-source)
California Labor Federation
California Teachers Association
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the California
Federation of Teachers, one of the sponsors of the bill,
"The enactment of SB 1580 (Burton), Chapter 1049, Statutes
of 2002, changed three of the CalSTRS Board members from
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being appointed to being elected by the members. However,
all three of the elected board members are voted on by
active members only. This leaves about 30% of CalSTRS
members, the retired members, without a vote. While there
is a retired member on the board, this member is not
democratically elected and, therefore, not truly
representative of this group."
Supporters further content that "AB 1862 will allow
retirees to have a united voice on their retirement issues
by changing the Retiree Representative on the Board of
CalSTRS from one being appointed by the Governor to one
being appointed by the retired members of CalSTRS. The
change in statute will allow for a more democratic process
of representation."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick, Hall,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Knight,
Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada,
John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher,
Gaines, Gilmore, Harkey, Jeffries, Logue, Miller,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, Fuller, Hagman, Skinner,
Vacancy
CPM:cm 6/30/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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