Public employees’ retirement: deferred retirement option program.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific financial details about how much extra money participants can earn or save.

Public Employees' Retirement: Deferred Retirement Option Program

This bill establishes a voluntary retirement savings plan called the Deferred Retirement Option Program for certain state employees, requiring cost neutrality and specific reporting requirements.

What This Bill Does

• Establishes a new program within PERS (Public Employees’ Retirement System) for Highway Patrol and Firefighters employees to save more money in their retirement accounts by delaying when they start receiving benefits.
• Requires the Department of Human Resources to negotiate with employee unions to implement this program.
• Ensures that the new program does not cost extra money or saves money compared to current plans.
• Necessitates an actuarial analysis before implementation, which checks if the plan is financially sound and meets cost-saving goals.
• Requires participants to sign a waiver agreeing they won't sue for age discrimination or similar issues related to this program.

Who It Names or Affects

• State employees in Highway Patrol (Unit 5) and Firefighters (Unit 8).
• The Department of Human Resources, which will negotiate with employee unions.
• PERS Board of Administration, responsible for managing the retirement system.

Terms To Know

Deferred Retirement Option Program

A program that allows employees to delay receiving their full pension benefits in exchange for additional savings or payments later on.

PERS (Public Employees’ Retirement System)

The system that provides retirement benefits to state employees and certain other workers.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify the exact financial details of how much extra money participants can earn or save.
• Requires an actuarial analysis before implementation, but does not provide specific dates for when this must be completed.
• The bill's effects on spouses and beneficiaries are detailed but may vary based on individual circumstances.

Official Summary Text

AB 1054, as amended, Gipson.
Public employees’ retirement: deferred retirement option program.
Existing law, the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, prescribes retirement benefits for members of specified county and district retirement systems. Existing law establishes the Deferred Retirement Option Program as an optional benefit program for specified safety members of those systems that, by ordinance or resolution by the county board of supervisors or the governing body, elect to adopt it. The program provides eligible members access, upon service retirement, to a lump sum or, in some cases, monthly payments in addition to a monthly retirement allowance, as specified.
Existing law, the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL), creates the 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 vests management and control of PERS in its board of administration. PERS provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations.
This bill would establish the Deferred Retirement Option Program as a voluntary program within PERS for employees of State Bargaining Units 5 (Highway Patrol) and 8 (Firefighters). The bill would require
these state bargaining units to bargain with the Department of Human Resources to implement the program. The bill would also require the program to result in a cost savings or be cost neutral. The bill would further require the department to work with the board of PERS to develop the program.
certain actions to occur, including completion of an actuarial analysis to determine the proposed program will be cost neutral, before the program becomes effective and applicable. The bill would require members who elect to participate in the program to meet certain requirements, including waiving any claims with respect to age and other discrimination in employment laws relative to the program. The bill would establish a program account for each participant and would require the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System to, among other things and at least once annually, provide a statement to the participant that displays the value or balance of the participant’s program account. The bill would authorize the participant to designate a person or persons as beneficiaries of the participant’s program account at any time during the program period from their election date to the deferred retirement calculation date. Beginning on July 1, 2027, and on that date every 5 consecutive
fiscal years thereafter, the bill would require the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System to submit a report of an actuarial analysis to specified entities. The bill would entitle participants who entered the program prior to the effective date of any modifications by the Legislature to elect whether to become subject to those modified provisions or to remain subject to the program as it existed on the participant’s election date. The bill would require the member’s spouse, as applicable, to execute a signed statement acknowledging the spouse’s understanding of, and agreement with, the member’s election to participate in the program together with an express statement of the spouse’s understanding and agreement that benefits payable to the spouse may be reduced as a result of participation in the program.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF