State Teachers’ Retirement System: positions subject to membership., the official text

An act to amend Section 22156.07 of the Education Code, relating to teachers’ retirement, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law, the Teachers’ Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers’ Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers’ Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. That law requires the Teachers’ Retirement Board to administer STRS and requires employers and employees to make contributions to STRS based on the member’s creditable compensation.
Existing law, among other things, defines “position subject to membership” to mean prescribed positions at various educational institutions, including, among other positions, a position at a county office of education or school district, not including a charter school, where the position requires the holding of a valid credential, license, or certificate authorized by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing or the State Department of Health Care Services, as prescribed.
This bill would expand the above-described definition to also include permitholders. The bill would additionally include as a “position subject to membership” a comparable position at a charter school eligible to receive state apportionment that is performing, directing, coordinating, supervising, or administering one or more prescribed functions, as specified.
Existing law requires the board to determine the date that specified provisions related to this definition become operative based on when STRS has the capacity to implement those provisions and to post that date on the internet website of STRS no later than July 1, 2027.
This bill would delete that requirement and would, instead, make this definition of “position subject to membership” operative on July 1, 2027.
Existing law creates the Teachers’ Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for specified purposes, into which certain moneys are deposited, including employee contributions.
By expanding the category of positions subject to membership under STRS and affecting the contributions to the retirement fund, the bill would make an appropriation.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 22156.07 of the Education Code is amended to read:
22156.07.
(a) Except as otherwise provided under this part, “position subject to membership” means the following:
(1) A position at a county office of education or school district, not including a charter school, that the governing body of the employer has designated in a resolution adopted at a public meeting as a position subject to membership for which the employer requires the holding of a valid credential, license, permit, or certificate authorized by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing or the State Department of Health Care Services. The resolution must be in effect on the date of hire in the position or be effective retroactively to include the position as of the date of hire, whichever is later, but no earlier than the operative date of this section as determined by subdivision (c).
(2) A position at a county office of education or school district, including a charter school, that is included in a certificated bargaining unit represented by an exclusive representative, whether by agreement between the exclusive representative and the employer as reflected in a collective bargaining agreement or by written decision of the Public Employment Relations Board. The collective bargaining agreement must be in effect on the date of hire in the position or be effective retroactively to include the position as of the date of hire, whichever is later, but no earlier than the operative date of this section as determined by subdivision (c).
(3) A position at a charter school eligible to receive state apportionment where the position requires the holding of a Commission on Teacher Credentialing certificate, permit, or other document pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 47605.
(4) (A) A position at a charter school eligible to receive state apportionment that is performing, directing, coordinating, supervising, or administering one or more functions listed in Section 44065 and is either of the following:
(i) A position for which the charter school requires the holding of a valid credential, license, permit, or certificate authorized by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing or the State Department of Health Care Services for the position.
(ii) A position that, if it were at a county office of education or school district, not including a charter school, would require the holding of a valid credential, license, permit, or certificate authorized by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing or the State Department of Health Care Services.
(B) In a resolution adopted at a public meeting, the governing body of the charter school eligible to receive state apportionment shall designate each position under subparagraph (A) that is a position subject to membership and shall identify either one of the following:
(i) The function or functions listed in Section 44065 that the position is performing.
(ii) The function or functions listed in Section 44065 that the position is directing, coordinating, supervising, or administering.
(C) The resolution adopted by the governing body of the charter school must be in effect on the date of hire in the position or be effective retroactively to include the position as of the date of hire, whichever is later, but no earlier than the operative date of this section as determined by subdivision (c).
(5) A position at a community college district, that is any of the following:
(A) A faculty member, as defined in Section 87003, subject to the appropriate minimum standards adopted by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges pursuant to Section 87356.
(B) An academic position, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 87001, subject to the appropriate minimum standards adopted by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges pursuant to Section 87356.
(C) An educational administrator, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 87002, subject to the appropriate minimum standards adopted by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges pursuant to Section 87356.
(D) A position pursuant to a contract with the United States Department of Defense to provide vocational training as an employee of a community college employer.
(6) A position as a superintendent of a California public school.
(7) A position that would otherwise be subject to membership in a different public retirement system when held by a member who has elected coverage by the Defined Benefit Program pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 22500).
(b) “Position subject to membership” does not mean and shall not include:
(1) A position that would otherwise be subject to coverage by the Defined Benefit Program when held by a member of the Public Employees’ Retirement System who has elected coverage in the Public Employees’ Retirement System pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 22500).
(2) A position that is not employed by an employer or employing agency as defined in Section 22131.
(3) A position at a county office of education or school district, including a charter school, that is included in a noncertificated bargaining unit represented by an exclusive representative, whether by agreement between the exclusive representative and the employer as reflected in a collective bargaining agreement in effect on the date of hire in the position or by written decision of the Public Employment Relations Board.
(c)This section shall become operative on July 1, 2027.