BILL NUMBER: AB 2606	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 17, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mendoza

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 21623.6 of the Government Code, relating
to public employees' retirement.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2606, as amended, Mendoza. Public employees' retirement:
postretirement death benefits.
   The Public Employees' Retirement Law requires that, upon the death
of any state or school member after retirement and while receiving a
retirement allowance, the sum of $2,000 be paid to the member's
designated beneficiary, except as specified. Existing law requires,
when a school employer elects by contract, that the amount paid to
the beneficiary be $3,000, $4,000, or $5,000, whichever amount is
designated in its contract.
   This bill would require that the amount paid be $4,000 for a death
occurring from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2013, inclusive, and
would increase that amount each year by $500 until April 1, 2017, at
which point the amount would be $6,000, and would be adjusted
annually, as specified.  Until January 1, 2015, when the amount
would reach   $5,000, the bill would instead allow a school
employer to elect by contract to pay the beneficiary $5,000. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 21623.6 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   21623.6.  (a) In lieu of benefits provided by Sections 21620,
21622, and 21623, upon the death of any school member, after
retirement and while receiving a retirement allowance from this
system, there shall be paid to the beneficiary whom he or she shall
nominate by written designation duly executed and filed with the
board, an amount to be provided from contributions by the employer as
follows:
   (1) The sum of four thousand dollars ($4,000)  , or five
thousand dollars ($5,000)   if designated by   the
employer in its contract,  for a death occurring from January 1,
2013, to December 31, 2013, inclusive.
   (2) The sum of four thousand five hundred dollars ($4,500)  ,
or five thousand dollars ($5,000)   if designated by the
employer in its contract,  for a death occurring from January 1,
2014, to December 31, 2014, inclusive.
   (3) The sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a death
occurring from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015, inclusive.
   (4) The sum of five thousand five hundred dollars ($5,500) for a
death occurring from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016,
inclusive.
   (5) The sum of six thousand dollars ($6,000) for a death occurring
from January 1, 2017, to March 31, 2017, inclusive.
   (6) For a death occurring on or after April 1, 2017, the amount
shall be adjusted annually in the same manner as monthly allowances
subject to Sections 21313 and 21329.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, all contributions,
liabilities, actuarial interest rates, and other valuation factors
shall be determined on the basis of actuarial assumptions and methods
that, in the aggregate, are reasonable and that, in combination,
offer the actuary's best estimate of anticipated experience under the
system.
   (c) The additional employer contributions required under this
section shall be computed as a level percentage of member
compensation.
   (d)  This section shall apply to any school employer and
any retired school member whose death after retirement occurs on or
after January 1, 2001.  This section shall not apply to any
contracting agency or local member, except those contracting agencies
that are school employers and those school districts or community
college districts as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 20057.