BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: AB 1736
Deborah V. Ortiz, Chair Hearing date: June 26, 2000
AB 1736 (Ducheny) as amended 5/1/00 FISCAL: YES
STRS: POST-RETIREMENT EARNINGS LIMITATION
HISTORY :
Sponsor: author
Prior legislation: see below
ASSEMBLY VOTES :
PER & SS 7 - 0 4/12/00
Appropriations 19 - 0 4/26/00
Assembly Floor 67 - 0 5/04/00
SUMMARY :
Would exempt from the current State Teachers' Retirement
System (STRS) post-retirement earnings limitation,
STRS members who retired before July 1, 2000, and who are
subsequently employed to provide direct remedial instruction
to pupils in K-12 education.
ANALYSIS :
1) Existing STRS law :
a) allows retired members of STRS to earn up to $19,050 in
f.y.1999-2000 ($19,650 in f.y. 2000-2001) for public school
employment, adjusted annually to reflect changes in the
Consumer Price Index; any earnings in excess of this amount
result in a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the member's
retirement allowance,
b) provides an exemption from this limit if the member
retired prior to July 1, 1998, and is employed by a school
district to provide direct classroom instruction in any
class size reduction program, or to temporarily fill a
position vacated by a teacher who transferred to a
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Date: 5/24/00 Page 1
classroom in the same district because of the Class Size
Reduction program; this exemption sunsets on July 1, 2002,
and
c) provides an additional exemption for a retired STRS
member who is appointed as a trustee or administrator or
who is employed on an emergency basis to fill an
administrative position; this exemption sunsets on July 1,
2003.
2) This bill would exempt from the current STRS
post-retirement earnings limitation, STRS members who retired
before July 1, 2000 and who are subsequently employed to
provide direct remedial instruction to pupils in K-12
education.
FISCAL IMPACT :
According to STRS, this bill would result in no costs to the
system because of the small number of retired teachers that
are anticipated to exceed the existing earnings limitation.
COMMENTS :
1) According to the author,
a) this bill will help alleviate the problem of a shortage
of teachers for remedial classes by expanding the pool of
available teachers,
b) the demand for teachers in general, and specifically
for remedial education, has increased in recent years due
to many factors, including policies introduced by the
Legislature and approved by the Governor, and that class
size reduction has increased the demand for teachers for
the early grades and lead to a shortage of teachers in a
number of low-income and rural and isolated areas,
c) bills ending the practice of social promotion and
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Date: 5/24/00 Page 2
requiring high school exit exams have increased the need
for qualified and experienced teachers to help raise the
academic performance of under-achieving students.
2) OTHER BILLS THIS SESSION
The committee is advised that there are three other bills
this session that would impact the STRS earnings limitation:
a) AB 1733 (Wildman), would eliminate the current earnings
limitation entirely,
b) AB 141 (Knox), would expand the current earnings
limitation exemption for members filling administrative
positions on an emergency basis, and
c) SB 1666 (Alarcon), would exempt STRS members who
retired prior to 2000 and who return to provide direct
classroom instruction to pupils in grades K-12 or to
provide support to new teachers, as specified, from the
current earnings limitation.
3) SUPPORT : Delta Kappa Gamma Society International
4) OPPOSITION : None to date.
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Date: 5/24/00 Page 3