Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB2460 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Truitt (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 2460
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2011;
3	3	May 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Select Committee on
4	4	Open Government; May 19, 2011, reported favorably by the following
5	5	vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 19, 2011, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to confidentiality of information held by a public
11	11	retirement system.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
14	14	amended by adding Section 552.0038 to read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 552.0038. PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEMS SUBJECT TO LAW.
16	16	(a) In this section, "governing body of a public retirement system"
17	17	and "public retirement system" have the meanings assigned those
18	18	terms by Section 802.001.
19	19	(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) through (i), the
20	20	governing body of a public retirement system is subject to this
21	21	chapter in the same manner as a governmental body.
22	22	(c) Records of individual members, annuitants, retirees,
23	23	beneficiaries, alternate payees, program participants, or persons
24	24	eligible for benefits from a retirement system under a retirement
25	25	plan or program administered by the retirement system that are in
26	26	the custody of the system or in the custody of an administering
27	27	firm, a carrier, or another governmental agency, including the
28	28	comptroller, acting in cooperation with or on behalf of the
29	29	retirement system are confidential and not subject to public
30	30	disclosure. The retirement system, administering firm, carrier, or
31	31	governmental agency is not required to accept or comply with a
32	32	request for a record or information about a record or to seek an
33	33	opinion from the attorney general because the records are exempt
34	34	from the provisions of this chapter, except as otherwise provided
35	35	by this section.
36	36	(d) Records may be released to a member, annuitant, retiree,
37	37	beneficiary, alternate payee, program participant, or person
38	38	eligible for benefits from the retirement system or to an
39	39	authorized attorney, family member, or representative acting on
40	40	behalf of the member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate
41	41	payee, program participant, or person eligible for benefits. The
42	42	retirement system may release the records to:
43	43	(1) an administering firm, carrier, or agent or
44	44	attorney acting on behalf of the retirement system;
45	45	(2) another governmental entity having a legitimate
46	46	need for the information to perform the purposes of the retirement
47	47	system; or
48	48	(3) a party in response to a subpoena issued under
49	49	applicable law.
50	50	(e) A record released or received by the retirement system
51	51	under this section may be transmitted electronically, including
52	52	through the use of an electronic signature or certification in a
53	53	form acceptable to the retirement system. An unintentional
54	54	disclosure to, or unauthorized access by, a third party related to
55	55	the transmission or receipt of information under this section is
56	56	not a violation by the retirement system of any law, including a law
57	57	or rule relating to the protection of confidential information.
58	58	(f) The records of an individual member, annuitant,
59	59	retiree, beneficiary, alternate payee, program participant, or
60	60	person eligible for benefits from the retirement system remain
61	61	confidential after release to a person as authorized by this
62	62	section. The records may become part of the public record of an
63	63	administrative or judicial proceeding related to a contested case,
64	64	and the member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate payee,
65	65	program participant, or person eligible for benefits waives the
66	66	confidentiality of the records, including medical records, unless
67	67	the records are closed to public access by a protective order issued
68	68	under applicable law.
69	69	(g) The retirement system may require a person to provide
70	70	the person's social security number as the system considers
71	71	necessary to ensure the proper administration of all services,
72	72	benefits, plans, and programs under the retirement system's
73	73	administration, oversight, or participation or as otherwise
74	74	required by state or federal law.
75	75	(h) The retirement system has sole discretion in
76	76	determining whether a record is subject to this section. For
77	77	purposes of this section, a record includes any identifying
78	78	information about a person, living or deceased, who is or was a
79	79	member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate payee, program
80	80	participant, or person eligible for benefits from the retirement
81	81	system under any retirement plan or program administered by the
82	82	retirement system.
83	83	(i) To the extent of a conflict between this section and any
84	84	other law with respect to the confidential information held by a
85	85	public retirement system or other entity described by Subsection
86	86	(c) concerning an individual member, annuitant, retiree,
87	87	beneficiary, alternate payee, program participant, or person
88	88	eligible for benefits from the retirement system, the prevailing
89	89	provision is the provision that provides the greater substantive
90	90	and procedural protection for the privacy of information concerning
91	91	that individual member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate
92	92	payee, program participant, or person eligible for benefits.
93	93	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
94	94	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
95	95	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
96	96	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
97	97	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
98	98	* * * * *