SECTIONS 22000-22011 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 22000-22011

22000. This part may be known and cited as the E. Richard Barnes
Act and together with Part 14 (commencing with Section 26000) shall
be known as the Teachers' Retirement Law.

22001. In order to provide a financially sound plan for the
retirement, with adequate retirement allowances, of teachers in the
public schools of this state, teachers in schools supported by this
state, and other persons employed in connection with the schools, the
State Teachers' Retirement System is established. The system is a
unit of the State and Consumer Services Agency.

22001.5. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that on July 1,
1996, the State Teachers' Retirement System Cash Balance Plan was
created and established to provide a retirement plan for persons
employed to perform creditable service for less than 50 percent of
the full-time equivalent for the position. The persons eligible for
the Cash Balance Plan were excluded from mandatory membership in the
State Teachers' Retirement System Defined Benefit Plan. Both plans
are administered by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Prior to the
creation and establishment of the Cash Balance Plan, the State
Teachers' Retirement System Defined Benefit Plan had been identified
simply as the State Teachers' Retirement System. As a result, the
system was identified as both the administrative body and the
retirement plan. The State Teachers' Retirement Law was amended to
identify the retirement plan as the State Teachers' Retirement System
Defined Benefit Plan in order to distinguish that plan from the Cash
Balance Plan. Because both plans were intended to provide for the
retirement of teachers and other persons employed in connection with
public schools of this state and schools supported by this state, a
merger of these two plans is now hereby made for the purpose of
establishing a single retirement plan that shall be known and may be
cited as the State Teachers' Retirement Plan consisting of the
different benefit programs set forth in this part and Part 14
(commencing with Section 26000). This plan shall be administered by
the Teachers' Retirement Board as set forth in this part and Part 14
(commencing with Section 26000). This part, together with Part 14
(commencing with Section 26000) shall be known and may be cited as
the Teachers' Retirement Law.

22002. The Legislature recognizes that the assets of the State
Teachers' Retirement Plan with respect to the Defined Benefit Program
are insufficient to meet the obligations of that program already
accrued or to accrue in the future with respect to service credited
to members of that program prior to July 1, 1972. Therefore, the
Legislature declares the following policies with respect to the
financing of the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers'
Retirement Plan:
(a) Members shall contribute a percentage of creditable
compensation, unless otherwise specified in this part.
(b) Employers shall contribute a percentage of the total
creditable compensation on which member contributions are based.
(c) The state shall contribute a sum certain for a given number of
years for the purpose of payment of benefits under this part.

22003. The revision of the State Teachers' Retirement Law, enacted
at the 1971 and 1972 Regular Sessions of the Legislature, shall not
be construed to affect benefits of persons retired prior to July 1,
1972, or their beneficiaries, except as specifically provided.

22004. If the provisions of this part are in conflict with the
provisions of a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to
Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 3560) of Division 4 of Title 1 of
the Government Code, the memorandum of understanding shall be
controlling without further legislative action, except that if the
provisions of a memorandum of understanding require the expenditure
of funds, the provisions shall not become effective unless approved
by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.

22005. The right of a person to a pension, retirement allowance,
return of contributions, any optional benefit, or any other right
accrued or accruing to any person under this part is exempt from
taxation, including any inheritance tax, whether state, county,
municipal, or district.

22006. The right of a person to an annuity or a retirement
allowance, to the return of contributions, the annuity, or retirement
allowance itself, any optional benefit, any other right or benefit
accrued or accruing to any person under this part, and the moneys in
the fund created under this part are not subject to execution or any
other process whatsoever, except to the extent permitted by Section
704.110 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and are unassignable except
as specifically provided in this part.

22007. The obligations of any member, or the member's
beneficiaries, to this system and the Defined Benefit Program
continue throughout membership, and thereafter until all of the
obligations of this system and the Defined Benefit Program to or in
respect to the member or the member's beneficiaries have been
discharged.

22007.5. Except as excluded by subdivision (d) of Sections 22661
and 23812, subdivision (c) of Section 24300.1, and subdivision (d) of
Sections 25011.1, 25018.1, and 26807.5, a person who is the
registered domestic partner of a member, as established pursuant to
Section 297 or 299.2 of the Family Code, shall be treated in the same
manner as a "spouse," as defined in Section 22171.

22008. For the purposes of payments into or out of the retirement
fund for adjustments of errors or omissions with respect to the
Defined Benefit Program or the Defined Benefit Supplement Program,
the period of limitation of actions shall be applied, except as
provided in Sections 23302 and 24613, as follows:
(a) No action may be commenced by or against the board, the
system, or the plan more than three years after all obligations to or
on behalf of the member, former member, beneficiary, or annuity
beneficiary have been discharged.
(b) If the system makes an error that results in incorrect payment
to a member, former member, beneficiary, or annuity beneficiary, the
system's right to commence recovery shall expire three years from
the date the incorrect payment was made.
(c) If an incorrect payment is made due to lack of information or
inaccurate information regarding the eligibility of a member, former
member, beneficiary, or annuity beneficiary to receive benefits under
the Defined Benefit Program or Defined Benefit Supplement Program,
the period of limitation shall commence with the discovery of the
incorrect payment.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if an
incorrect payment has been made on the basis of fraud or intentional
misrepresentation by a member, beneficiary, annuity beneficiary, or
other party in relation to or on behalf of a member, beneficiary, or
annuity beneficiary, the three-year period of limitation shall not be
deemed to commence or to have commenced until the system discovers
the incorrect payment.
(e) The collection of overpayments under subdivisions (b), (c),
and (d) shall be made pursuant to Section 24617.

22009. If any provision of this part or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity shall not
affect other provisions or applications of this part that can be
given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
this end the provisions of this part are severable.

22010. (a) It is unlawful for a person to do any of the following:
(1) Make, or cause to be made, any knowingly false material
statement or material representation, to knowingly fail to disclose a
material fact, or to otherwise provide false information with the
intent to use it, or allow it to be used, to obtain, receive,
continue, increase, deny, or reduce any benefit administered by this
system.
(2) Present, or cause to be presented, any knowingly false
material statement or material representation for the purpose of
supporting or opposing an application for any benefit administered by
this system.
(3) Knowingly accept or obtain payment from this system with
knowledge that the recipient is not entitled to the payment under the
provisions of this part or Part 14 (commencing with Section 2600)
and with the intent to retain the payment for personal use or
benefit.
(4) Knowingly aid, abet, solicit, or conspire with any person to
do an act prohibited by this section.
(b) For purposes of this section, "statement" includes, but is not
limited to, any oral or written application for benefits, report of
family relationship, report of injury or physical or mental
limitation, hospital records, test results, physician reports, or
other medical records, employment records, duty statements, reports
of compensation, or any other evidence material to the determination
of a person's initial or continued eligibility for a benefit or the
amount of a benefit administered by this system.
(c) A person who violates any provision of this section is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year,
or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by
both that imprisonment and fine.
(d) A person violating any provision of this section may be
required by the court in a criminal action to make restitution to
this system, or to any other person determined by the court, for the
amount of the benefit unlawfully obtained, unless the court finds
that restitution, or a portion of it, is not in the interests of
justice. Any restitution order imposed pursuant to this section shall
be satisfied before any criminal fine imposed under this section may
be collected.
(e) The provisions provided by this section are cumulative and
shall not be construed as restricting the application of any other
law.

22011. For an application or document requiring a signature, that
signature shall be in a form prescribed by the system, including, but
not limited to, on paper or made by electronic means.
Notwithstanding any other law, an application or document made under
this part that is signed and submitted by the person authorized to do
so using technology and security measures prescribed by the system
shall be deemed to be a signed and valid original document.