A key legislative committee has given its unanimous approval to a CTA-sponsored bill that would win back $500 million in state funds withheld from the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) during the 2003-04 budget deliberations.
AB 55 by Assembly Member Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco) cleared the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee March 16 on a unanimous vote. The bill now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and could soon come before the full Assembly.
To become law, AB 55 needs a two-thirds vote of approval.
The funds it would restore are earmarked for a special account that provides an inflation offset for retirees, boosting the buying power of their pension dollars. Retirees currently receiving the quarterly adjustments are mostly teachers in their 80s, who are just getting by.