Protecting STRS:
By an 80-0 vote, the Assembly has approved a CTA-sponsored bill that will guarantee the repayment of $500 million in funding owed to the State Teachers’ Retirement System.
CTA-sponsored AB 265, by Assembly Member Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco) and Assembly Member Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino), now moves to the Senate for further action.
AB 265 would require the state to restore at a future date the 2003-2004 payment of $500 million -- plus interest -- that the state has withheld from the STRS Supplemental Benefits Maintenance Account.
That account underwrites the cost of protecting teachers’ pensions against inflation. Specifically, the funds are used to adjust STRS retirees’ pensions to ensure that the amount paid has at least 80% of the buying power of the retiree’s original pension.
The deferral will make it harder for the guarantee to be raised beyond 80% in future years.
To become law, AB 265 still needs the approval of the state Senate and the governor’s signature.
CTA Members:
Urge your State Senator to approve AB 265.