Health Benefits Eligibility Changes for Community College District Faculty
Senate Bill 142 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) – This bill allows community college districts that contract with CalPERS for health benefits to extend health care eligibility to part-time faculty.
The faculty member must have an appointment of at least one semester, and have a teaching assignment with one or more community college districts, of two courses or 40% of the cumulative equivalent of a minimum full-time teaching assignment.
This law went into effect on September 13, 2023.
Minor Changes to Public Employees’ Retirement Law Allowed
Senate Bill 885 (Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement) – This bill allows CalPERS, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), and county retirement systems to make noncontroversial, technical, conforming, and minor changes to the education and government codes that are necessary for the efficient administration of retirement laws by public employee retirement systems. This statute allows for minor and technical changes in the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL).
The bill also allows a Judges’ Retirement System II judge to identify a beneficiary for the return of remaining contributions optional settlement in cases where there is no surviving spouse, and will not permit a surviving spouse’s community property rights to be circumvented.
Required Minimum Distribution Age Increases to 73
A required minimum distribution (RMD) is the minimum amount members must withdraw from their retirement accounts each year. This requirement applies to members of the CalPERS defined benefit plans and deferred compensation plans.
A recent change in federal law increased the age a person must start taking their RMD to age 73 in 2023 and established an additional increase that will bring the starting age to 75 by 2033. Several provisions in the PERL need to be updated to comply with this recent federal law change, and this bill also aligns the PERL with the Internal Revenue Code to conform with the recent increase in the RMD age and any future increase.
Learn More
CalPERS monitors legislation at the state and federal levels to protect the best interests of our members and employers. To view summaries and reports about legislation that may affect you, visit the CalPERS legislation page.