SB 1032: California Public Employees’ Retirement System: contract members: termination.

The Public Employees Retirement Law creates the California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) for the purpose of providing pension benefits to state employees and employees of contracting agencies and prescribes the rights and duties of members of the system and their beneficiaries. Existing law establishes the Board of Administration of the Public Employees Retirement System to administer the system, among other things. Existing law authorizes any public agency to participate in and make all or part of its employees members of PERS by contract, as provided, and authorizes a contracting agency to terminate its contract if the contract has been in effect for at least 5 years. Under existing law, the board is required to hold the accumulated contributions from a terminated contract in a terminated agency pool, as specified, for the benefit of the members. Existing law requires the terminating contracting agency to contribute to the terminated agency pool the difference between the accumulated contributions and the boards pension liability for the contracting agencys members, as provided.

This bill would authorize a contracting agency to terminate its contract with the board at the agencys will and would not require the contracting agency to fully fund the boards pension liability upon termination of the contract. The bill would authorize the board to reduce the members benefits in the terminated agency pool by the percentage of liability unfunded. The bill would also authorize a contracting agency who terminates its contract with the board to transfer the assets accumulated in the system to a pension provider designated by the contracting agency.