---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public Employees' Retirement System: optional settlements."
description: "Existing law creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , the Judges' Retirement System, and the Judges' Retirement System II, all of which are administrated by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Existing law permits a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System to elect from among several optional settlements for the purpose of structuring his or her retirement allowance, which may result in a reduction of the allowance paid to the member in relation to the payments to his or her beneficiary after the member's death. Existing law includes among these options the following: optional settlement 1, which provides for payment of a retirement allowance until death and the payment of any remaining contributions at death to his or her beneficiary or estate; optional settlement 2, which provides an allowance for life to the member and thereafter to his or her beneficiary; optional settlement 3, which provides an allowance for life to the member and thereafter 1/2 of his or her allowance to his or her beneficiary; optional settlement 4, which provides for such other benefits that are the actuarial equivalent of a member's retirement allowance, subject to approval of the board and that the benefits payable not exceed actuarial equivalent of benefits under optional settlement 2, as specified; and optional settlement 5, which provides for a partial present distribution of the actuarial present value of a portion of a member's unmodified monthly allowance, as specified. Existing law entitles a member to elect certain variations within these settlements and, in certain instances, to a recalculated, increased allowance if the beneficiary predeceases the member, subject to a specified, sinking percentage. Existing law similarly permits a member of the Judges' Retirement System or the Judges' Retirement System II to select from various optional settlements for the purpose of structuring his or her retirement benefits."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 2404"
citation: "California AB 2404 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Employees' Retirement System: optional settlements."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cooley"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 25
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2016-02-19"
last_action: "2016-08-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5a393e63-1326-4f7a-bb3f-4d0cc4aecdd4"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404"
source_hash: "2c9490d4128dd65821cff4e0076e139b42ca8305b21738e04008df98b47b3609"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2404 (20152016) — Public Employees' Retirement System: optional settlements.

Existing law creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , the Judges' Retirement System, and the Judges' Retirement System II, all of which are administrated by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Existing law permits a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System to elect from among several optional settlements for the purpose of structuring his or her retirement allowance, which may result in a reduction of the allowance paid to the member in relation to the payments to his or her beneficiary after the member's death. Existing law includes among these options the following: optional settlement 1, which provides for payment of a retirement allowance until death and the payment of any remaining contributions at death to his or her beneficiary or estate; optional settlement 2, which provides an allowance for life to the member and thereafter to his or her beneficiary; optional settlement 3, which provides an allowance for life to the member and thereafter 1/2 of his or her allowance to his or her beneficiary; optional settlement 4, which provides for such other benefits that are the actuarial equivalent of a member's retirement allowance, subject to approval of the board and that the benefits payable not exceed actuarial equivalent of benefits under optional settlement 2, as specified; and optional settlement 5, which provides for a partial present distribution of the actuarial present value of a portion of a member's unmodified monthly allowance, as specified. Existing law entitles a member to elect certain variations within these settlements and, in certain instances, to a recalculated, increased allowance if the beneficiary predeceases the member, subject to a specified, sinking percentage. Existing law similarly permits a member of the Judges' Retirement System or the Judges' Retirement System II to select from various optional settlements for the purpose of structuring his or her retirement benefits.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/19/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404&version=20150AB240499INT)
2. **03/15/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404&version=20150AB240498AMD)
3. **04/12/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404&version=20150AB240497AMD)
4. **06/13/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404&version=20150AB240496AMD)
5. **08/02/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404&version=20150AB240495AMD)
6. **08/26/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404&version=20150AB240493CHP)
7. **AB2404** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404)
8. **08/16/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2404&version=20150AB240494ENR)

## Votes

- AB 2404 COOLEY Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 2404 COOLEY Consent Calendar Second Day — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Consent Calendar 2nd AB2404 Cooley By Pan — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **19–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Cooley — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-19** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2016-02-21** From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.
- **2016-02-22** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2016-03-14** Referred to Com. on P.E., R., & S.S. `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-15** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P.E., R., & S.S. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-03-16** Re-referred to Com. on P.E., R., & S.S. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-12** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P.E., R., & S.S. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-04-13** Re-referred to Com. on P.E., R., & S.S. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 20). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-04-27** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 19. Noes 0.) (April 27). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-04-28** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-05** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 4686.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-05** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-05-12** Referred to Com. on P.E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-08** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2016-06-13** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on P.E. & R. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-27** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-08-01** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, be amended, and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-02** Read second time and amended. Ordered to consent calendar. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 4871.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-11** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 14 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2016-08-15** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 5812.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-18** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2016-08-26** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-08-26** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 199, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5a393e63-1326-4f7a-bb3f-4d0cc4aecdd4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).