State Must Pay Teachers Pension Fund Millions

The state must pay a $500-million contribution withheld from the California State Teachers Retirement System, the nation’s third-largest pension fund, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer said California is obligated to make the payment to the pension fund as part of its payments to 63,000 retired teachers and their relatives. The withholding of the $500 million was due to a bill, passed in May 2003, when then-Gov. Gray Davis was trying to avert the state’s budget crisis, said Sherry Reser, a pension fund spokeswoman.