SB 656: Judges’ Retirement System II: deferred retirement.

(1)Existing law establishes the Judges Retirement System II, which the Board of Retirement of the Public Employees Retirement System administers. Existing law authorizes a judge who is a member of the system and who retires upon attaining both 65 years of age and 20 or more years of service, or upon attaining 70 years of age with a minimum of 5 years of service, to elect from specified retirement benefits including a monthly pension. Existing law requires a judge who leaves judicial office after accruing 5 or more years of service, but who has not reached the applicable age of retirement, to be paid a lump sum equal to monetary credits that accrued while he or she was in office, as specified. Existing law authorizes a judge who, among other things, separates from office after accruing 5 or more years of service and has not reached 65 years of age to continue health care benefits if he or she assumes certain payments. Existing law specifies benefits provided to a surviving spouse or other beneficiary in relation to these provisions.

This bill would authorize a judge who is not otherwise eligible to retire and who has either attained 60 years of age with a minimum of 5 years of service or accrued 20 or more years of service to leave his or her monetary credits on deposit with the system, to retire, and upon reaching retirement age, as specified, to receive a monthly retirement allowance, as provided. The bill would prescribe procedures to apply if the judge fails to elect within 30 days of separation and would authorize the board to charge an administrative fee, as specified, to a judge who elects to apply these provisions. The bill would specify the monthly allowance provided to a surviving spouse or other beneficiary and would make other conforming changes in relation to these provisions. The bill would also provide, for the purposes of the Judges Retirement System II, and for a judge first appointed or elected to office on or after January 1, 2019, that a surviving spouse is a spouse who was married to the judge continuously from the date of retirement until the judges death.

(2)Existing law establishes the Public Employees Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) for the purpose of providing health care benefits to employees and annuitants, as defined. PEMHCA defines an annuitant for purposes of receiving postretirement health benefits as including, among others, a person who retires within 120 days of separation from public employment and a judge who receives the above-described lump sum payment of monetary credits. Contributions and premiums paid under PEMHCA are deposited in the Public Employees Contingency Reserve Fund, which is continuously appropriated.

This bill would authorize a judge who elects to retire as described above, but is not yet receiving his or her retirement allowance, to continue health care benefits upon separation from office if he or she assumes specified payments. The bill would include these judges within the definition of annuitant upon commencement of the judges retirement allowance, thereby authorizing the judge to receive applicable postretirement health benefits. By authorizing the use of continuously appropriated funds for a new purpose, and by depositing additional amounts into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.