81R9696 TJS-D
By: Eiland H.B. No. 2455
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a one-time supplemental annuity payment by the
Employees Retirement System of Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) Subject to the availability of funds under
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. No.
111-5) or other legislative appropriation, the Employees
Retirement System of Texas shall make a one-time supplemental
payment of a retirement or death benefit as provided by this
section.
(b) The supplemental payment is payable not later than
September 30, 2009, and, to the extent practicable, on a date or
dates that coincide with the regular annuity payment payable to
each eligible annuitant.
(c) The amount of the supplemental payment is equal to the
lesser of:
(1) the gross amount of the regular annuity payment to
which the eligible annuitant is otherwise entitled for the month of
August 2009; or
(2) $2,400.
(d) The Employees Retirement System of Texas shall make
applicable tax withholding and other legally required deductions
before disbursing the supplemental payment. A supplemental payment
under this section is in addition to and not in lieu of:
(1) the regular monthly annuity payment to which the
eligible annuitant is otherwise entitled; and
(2) any supplemental payment made under Section
814.603, Government Code.
(e) Subject to Subsection (f) of this section, to be
eligible for the supplemental payment, a person must be, for the
month of August 2009, an annuitant eligible to receive:
(1) a standard retirement annuity payment; or
(2) an optional retirement annuity payment as either a
retiree or beneficiary.
(f) If the annuitant is a retiree or a beneficiary under an
optional retirement payment plan, to be eligible for the
supplemental payment, the effective date of the retirement of the
member of the Employees Retirement System of Texas must have been on
or before December 31, 2008. The supplemental payment shall be made
to an alternate payee who is an annuitant under Section 804.005,
Government Code, only if the annuity payment to the alternate payee
commenced on or before December 31, 2008.
(g) The supplemental payment does not apply to members of
the elected class of the retirement system under Section 812.002,
Government Code.
(h) Except as provided by this section, the board of
trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas shall
determine the eligibility for and the amount and timing of a
supplemental payment and the manner in which the payment is made.
(i) The supplemental payment provided under this Act is
subject solely to the availability of funds appropriated for that
purpose, and does not depend on actuarial soundness of the fund or
any other condition provided by other law.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.