The Assembly Public Employment, Retirement and Social Security Committee has given its okay to several key retirement measures.
CTA-sponsored AB 1852 by Assembly Member Gene Mullin (D-San Francisco) gained the committee's unanimous approval. It would provide retirement credit with the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) for teachers called to active duty in the Iraq War since Sept. 11, 2001.
The measure would help ensure that teachers serving their county in a time of war will not be penalized by losing service time they would have gained by teaching during the period.
The committee also gave its approval to AB 2753, a CTA-backed measure by Assembly Member Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro). It would reduce the amount of time that must elapse before a retired teacher who has taken advantage of the state's Golden Handshake or early retirement provisions can return to teaching without suffering a pension reduction.
Current law bars educators from returning to work in the district that extended them the Golden Handshake provisions for five years. They cannot teach for even a day in another district for at least a year. AB 2753 would allow teachers to perform teaching service in their old district after one year or immediately in a different district.
The bill passed with bipartisan support.
Len Feldman