By: Truitt (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 2460
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2011;
May 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Select Committee on
Open Government; May 19, 2011, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 19, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to confidentiality of information held by a public
retirement system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.0038 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.0038. PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEMS SUBJECT TO LAW.
(a) In this section, "governing body of a public retirement system"
and "public retirement system" have the meanings assigned those
terms by Section 802.001.
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) through (i), the
governing body of a public retirement system is subject to this
chapter in the same manner as a governmental body.
(c) Records of individual members, annuitants, retirees,
beneficiaries, alternate payees, program participants, or persons
eligible for benefits from a retirement system under a retirement
plan or program administered by the retirement system that are in
the custody of the system or in the custody of an administering
firm, a carrier, or another governmental agency, including the
comptroller, acting in cooperation with or on behalf of the
retirement system are confidential and not subject to public
disclosure. The retirement system, administering firm, carrier, or
governmental agency is not required to accept or comply with a
request for a record or information about a record or to seek an
opinion from the attorney general because the records are exempt
from the provisions of this chapter, except as otherwise provided
by this section.
(d) Records may be released to a member, annuitant, retiree,
beneficiary, alternate payee, program participant, or person
eligible for benefits from the retirement system or to an
authorized attorney, family member, or representative acting on
behalf of the member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate
payee, program participant, or person eligible for benefits. The
retirement system may release the records to:
(1) an administering firm, carrier, or agent or
attorney acting on behalf of the retirement system;
(2) another governmental entity having a legitimate
need for the information to perform the purposes of the retirement
system; or
(3) a party in response to a subpoena issued under
applicable law.
(e) A record released or received by the retirement system
under this section may be transmitted electronically, including
through the use of an electronic signature or certification in a
form acceptable to the retirement system. An unintentional
disclosure to, or unauthorized access by, a third party related to
the transmission or receipt of information under this section is
not a violation by the retirement system of any law, including a law
or rule relating to the protection of confidential information.
(f) The records of an individual member, annuitant,
retiree, beneficiary, alternate payee, program participant, or
person eligible for benefits from the retirement system remain
confidential after release to a person as authorized by this
section. The records may become part of the public record of an
administrative or judicial proceeding related to a contested case,
and the member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate payee,
program participant, or person eligible for benefits waives the
confidentiality of the records, including medical records, unless
the records are closed to public access by a protective order issued
under applicable law.
(g) The retirement system may require a person to provide
the person's social security number as the system considers
necessary to ensure the proper administration of all services,
benefits, plans, and programs under the retirement system's
administration, oversight, or participation or as otherwise
required by state or federal law.
(h) The retirement system has sole discretion in
determining whether a record is subject to this section. For
purposes of this section, a record includes any identifying
information about a person, living or deceased, who is or was a
member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate payee, program
participant, or person eligible for benefits from the retirement
system under any retirement plan or program administered by the
retirement system.
(i) To the extent of a conflict between this section and any
other law with respect to the confidential information held by a
public retirement system or other entity described by Subsection
(c) concerning an individual member, annuitant, retiree,
beneficiary, alternate payee, program participant, or person
eligible for benefits from the retirement system, the prevailing
provision is the provision that provides the greater substantive
and procedural protection for the privacy of information concerning
that individual member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate
payee, program participant, or person eligible for benefits.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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