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<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-20</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:ActionText>AMENDED_ASSEMBLY</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-03-09</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member McKinnor</ns0:AuthorText>
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<ns0:Name>McKinnor</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Title> An act to amend Section 26401 of the Education Code, relating to teachers’ retirement.</ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>teachers’ retirement</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>Cash Balance Benefit Program: member election: filing timeframe.</ns0:Subject>
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<html:p>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.</html:p>
<html:p> Existing law also creates the Cash Balance Benefit Program to provide a retirement plan for the benefit of participating employees who provide creditable service for less than 50% of full time. Existing law requires that the election to become a participant of the Cash Benefit Balance Program be made in writing on a
properly executed form prescribed by STRS and filed with the employer within 60 calendar days of the latest of specified dates, including the first day of employment. Existing law authorizes a member who elects to participate in the Cash Balance Benefit Program to subsequently elect that creditable service performed for the employer be subject to coverage by the Defined Benefit Program in lieu of the Cash Balance Benefit Program on a properly executed form, as prescribed. Existing law requires these election forms to be received at the STRS headquarters office within 60 calendar days after the date of the employee’s signature and prior to the submission of contributions.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would extend the above-described periods for filing the election forms to 90 days, as specified, and would also extend the timeframe for receipt of the forms at the STRS headquarters office to within 90 days of signature.</html:p>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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Section 26401 of the
<ns0:DocName>Education Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:Num>26401.</ns0:Num>
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(a)
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(1)
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A member of the Defined Benefit Program who is employed by an employer that provides the Cash Balance Benefit Program may elect to become a participant of the Cash Balance Benefit Program for creditable service performed for that employer if all employment to perform creditable service for that employer meets either of the following conditions:
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(A)
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The member is employed by an employer, excluding a community college district, to perform creditable service on a part-time basis for less than 50 percent of the time the employer requires for the full-time position or on a substitute, part-time hourly, or part-time daily basis.
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(B)
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The member is employed by a community
college district to perform creditable service on a temporary basis pursuant to Section 87474, 87478, 87480, 87481, 87482, or 87482.5.
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(2)
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The election shall be made in writing on a properly executed form prescribed by the system and filed with the employer within 90 calendar days after the first day of employment, or the date of the employer’s governing board’s action to provide the Cash Balance Benefit Program, or the effective date of the employer’s governing board’s action to provide the Cash Balance Benefit Program, whichever occurs later.
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(3)
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The election form shall be received at the system’s headquarters office within
90 calendar days after the date of the employee’s signature and prior to the submission of contributions. The employer shall retain a copy of the signed election form.
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(4)
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The election shall become effective as of the first day of employment or the effective date of the employer’s governing board’s action to provide the Cash Balance Benefit Program, whichever occurs later.
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(b)
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(1)
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If an employee was excluded from participation in the Cash Balance Benefit Program pursuant to Section 26401.5, as that section read on December 31, 2000, for the same service, the employee may elect to become a participant for creditable service subject to coverage under the Cash Balance Benefit Program for that employer, provided all of the following conditions are met:
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(A)
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The employment is pursuant to Section 87474, 87478, 87480, 87481, 87482, or 87482.5.
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(B)
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The employer offers the Cash Balance Benefit Program.
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(C)
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The creditable service is not also subject to mandatory membership in the Defined Benefit Program.
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(2)
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Employers shall, on or before May 1, 2007, make available to employees described in this subdivision, information and forms provided by the system for making an election regarding participation. The employee shall submit the form to the employer within a 90-day election period designated by the employer. The employer shall retain a copy of the employee’s
signed election form and mail the original signed election form to the system’s headquarters office. The election shall become effective on the first day of the pay period following the pay period in which the election is made.
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(c)
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A member who elects to participate in the Cash Balance Benefit Program pursuant to this section may subsequently elect that creditable service performed for the employer be subject to coverage by the Defined Benefit Program in lieu of the Cash Balance Benefit Program.
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<html:p>
(1)
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The election shall be made in writing on a properly executed form prescribed by the system and filed with the employer at any time while employed to perform creditable service.
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(2)
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The election form shall be received at the system’s headquarters office within
90 calendar days after the date of the employee’s signature and prior to the submission of contributions. The employer shall retain a copy of the signed election form.
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(3)
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The election shall become effective no earlier than the first day of the pay period in which the election is made and is irrevocable.
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