CalSTRS Prevails in Suit to Recover $500 Million State Payment.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- First graph, last sentence of release should read: contribution withheld on July 1, 2003 (sted contribution withheld on June 30, 2004). The corrected release reads: CALSTRS PREVAILS IN SUIT TO RECOVER $500 MILLION STATE PAYMENT Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Judy For the person off screen, see . Judge Judy is an American syndicated reality-based "court," or "syndi-court" show, featuring former family court judge, Judith Sheindlin, arbitrating over small claims cases. Holzer Hersher today ruled in favor of California State Teachers' Retirement System in its lawsuit against the state to restore a $500 million state contribution withheld on July 1, 2003. The judge agreed with CalSTRS in its argument that the law obligating the state to make the contribution is "clear and unambiguous." With this ruling, the court proceedings are concluded, avoiding a hearing that had been scheduled for July 15, 2005. The missed contribution supports supplemental payments made to approximately 63,000 retired educators and their survivors. These quarterly payments are made when inflation erodes a recipient's monthly benefit below 80 percent of its original consumer purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. . The suit was filed in the Sacramento County Superior Court on October 14, 2003, by CalSTRS litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. counsel Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, a Sacramento law firm. The complaint sought to invalidate in·val·i·date tr.v. in·val·i·dat·ed, in·val·i·dat·ing, in·val·i·dates To make invalid; nullify. in·val SB 20x because it violated vi·o·late tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates 1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example). 2. To assault (a person) sexually. 3. the vested rights of teachers and retirees while providing no assurance the withheld amount would be returned and because the law's implementation would jeopardize jeop·ard·ize tr.v. jeop·ard·ized, jeop·ard·iz·ing, jeop·ard·izes To expose to loss or injury; imperil. See Synonyms at endanger. the capability of CalSTRS to make the supplemental payments in the future. "We are relieved to have the court agree with us and now we can put this issue behind us. Resorting to litigation was done reluctantly," said Carolyn Widener, chair of the Teachers' Retirement Board. "The board is sensitive to the state's very real budget difficulties. But in the end, our focus must be on California's educators -- on what's best for them, not just now, not in the near term, but forever." CalSTRS, with a $125 billion portfolio, is the nation's third largest public pension fund. It administers retirement, disability and survivor benefits for California's public school educators in grades kindergarten kindergarten [Ger.,=garden of children], system of preschool education. Friedrich Froebel designed (1837) the kindergarten to provide an educational situation less formal than that of the elementary school but one in which children's creative play instincts would be through community college, serving more than 755,000 members and benefit recipients. |
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