AB 156: Labor.

Official summary

Legislative Counsel’s Digest (official, as of the latest version). Written by nonpartisan legislative staff; reproduced verbatim.

(1)Existing law, the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) for the purpose of providing pensions and benefits to state employees and their beneficiaries and prescribes the rights and duties of employers participating in the system. Under PERL, benefits are funded by investment income and employer and employee contributions, which are deposited into the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund, a continuously appropriated trust fund administered by the system’s board of administration.

PERL prescribes methods for the calculation and payment of the state employer contribution for its employees who are PERS members. PERL provides for an annual adjustment of the state’s contribution in the budget and quarterly appropriations to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund from the General Fund and other funds that are responsible for payment of the employer contribution.

Existing law makes additional General Fund appropriations to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund for the 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25 fiscal years. Supplemental payments connected with appropriations for those fiscal years are to be apportioned to the state employee member categories generally, as directed by the Department of Finance, and to specified state employee member categories, including to the state miscellaneous member category, the industrial member category, the state safety member category, and the state peace officer/firefighter member category.

The California Constitution establishes the Budget Stabilization Account in the General Fund and requires the Controller, in each fiscal year, to transfer from the General Fund to the Budget Stabilization Account amounts that include a sum equal to 1.5% of the estimated amount of General Fund revenues for that fiscal year. These provisions further require, until the 2029–30 fiscal year, that the Legislature appropriate a percentage of these moneys, the amount of which is generated pursuant to specified calculations, for certain obligations and purposes, including addressing unfunded liabilities for state-level pension plans.

This bill would appropriate $372,000,000 from the General Fund for the purposes identified in the constitutional provisions described above, to supplement the state’s appropriation to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund. The bill would specify that this appropriation represents a portion of the amount identified in a specific provision of the Budget Act of 2025. The bill would require the Department of Finance to provide the Controller with a schedule establishing the timing of specific transfers. The bill would require the supplemental payment to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund to be apportioned to specified state employee member categories, not to exceed $174,523,000 to the state miscellaneous member category, $10,296,000 to the state industrial member category, $20,479,000 to the state safety member category, and $166,702,000 to the state peace officer/firefighter member category. The bill would require the appropriation described above to be applied to the unfunded state liabilities for the state employee member categories that are in excess of the base amounts for the 2025–26 fiscal year.

(2)PERL authorizes any public agency to make its employees members of PERS by contract. Under existing law, when a contracting agency is succeeded by another agency, the successor agency may become a contracting agency of PERS. Existing law provides that if the successor agency contracts with PERS, the contract of the former agency shall merge with the contract of the succeeding agency. Existing law authorizes specified successor agencies to provide employees the defined benefit plan or formula that those employees received from their respective employer prior to annexation.

Sponsors

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

1. September 13, 2025Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Grayson.
2. September 11, 2025Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
3. September 10, 2025From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (September 10).
4. September 8, 2025From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on B. & F. R.
5. September 8, 2025Senate Rule 29.3(b) suspended. (Ayes 28. Noes 8. Page 2568.)
6. April 2, 2025Referred to Com. on B. & F. R.
7. March 20, 2025In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
8. March 20, 2025Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 53. Noes 17. Page 741.)
9. March 18, 2025Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
10. March 17, 2025(Ayes 53. Noes 17. Page 643.)
11. March 17, 2025Ordered to second reading.
12. March 17, 2025Withdrawn from committee.