Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB13 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Callegari, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Duncan) H.B. No. 13
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2013;
3	3	April 24, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on State
4	4	Affairs; April 29, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote:
5	5	Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 29, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the State Pension Review Board and public retirement
11	11	systems; authorizing a fee.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 801.001, Government Code, is amended by
14	14	adding Subdivisions (1-a), (3), and (4) to read as follows:
15	15	(1-a) "Governing body of a public retirement system"
16	16	has the meaning assigned by Section 802.001.
17	17	(3) "System administrator" means a person designated
18	18	by the governing body of a public retirement system to supervise the
19	19	day-to-day affairs of the public retirement system.
20	20	(4) "Trustee" means a member of the governing body of a
21	21	public retirement system.
22	22	SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 801, Government Code, is
23	23	amended by adding Sections 801.209, 801.210, and 801.211 to read as
24	24	follows:
25	25	Sec. 801.209. PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEM REPORTS AND
26	26	INFORMATION. (a) For each public retirement system, the board
27	27	shall post on the board's Internet website, or on a publicly
28	28	available website that is linked to the board's website, the most
29	29	recent data from reports received under Sections 802.101, 802.103,
30	30	802.104, 802.105, and 802.108.
31	31	(b) On the 60th day after the date a report or information
32	32	required by this chapter or Chapter 802 is due to the board, the
33	33	board shall post on the board's website a list of public retirement
34	34	systems that have not submitted the required reports or
35	35	information.
36	36	(c) For each public retirement system included on the list
37	37	posted under Subsection (b), the board shall notify:
38	38	(1) the governor and the Legislative Budget Board
39	39	regarding the lack of a timely submission by the Employees
40	40	Retirement System of Texas, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas,
41	41	the Texas County and District Retirement System, the Texas
42	42	Municipal Retirement System, the Texas Emergency Services
43	43	Retirement System, or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan
44	44	Two; or
45	45	(2) the governing body of the political subdivision of
46	46	which members of the public retirement system are employees
47	47	regarding the lack of a timely submission by a public retirement
48	48	system other than a system listed in Subdivision (1).
49	49	Sec. 801.210. MODEL ETHICAL STANDARDS AND
50	50	CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST POLICIES. (a) The board shall develop and
51	51	make reasonably accessible on the board's Internet website model
52	52	ethical standards and model conflict-of-interest policies,
53	53	including disclosure requirements, for voluntary use by a public
54	54	retirement system.
55	55	(b) A public retirement system is not required to adopt a
56	56	standard or policy based on the model developed under this section.
57	57	Sec. 801.211. PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEM EDUCATIONAL
58	58	TRAINING PROGRAM. (a) The board shall develop and administer an
59	59	educational training program for trustees and system
60	60	administrators.
61	61	(b) The curriculum of the educational training program must
62	62	include minimum training requirements for trustees and system
63	63	administrators. The board shall develop a system to track
64	64	compliance with the minimum training requirements by trustees and
65	65	system administrators and shall report the level of compliance in
66	66	the biennial report required by Section 801.203.
67	67	(c) The curriculum of the educational training program
68	68	under this section may include optional training classes for
69	69	trustees, system administrators, and other employees of public
70	70	retirement systems.
71	71	(d) To the extent practicable, the board shall make training
72	72	classes reasonably accessible to trustees and system
73	73	administrators of public retirement systems on an Internet website
74	74	maintained for that purpose.
75	75	(e) The board may adopt rules and appropriate fees to
76	76	administer and provide educational training programs under this
77	77	section. The fees set by the board must be reasonable to pay the
78	78	actual costs incurred by the board to conduct the training classes.
79	79	The fees must be paid from a source considered appropriate by the
80	80	governing body of the public retirement system. A public retirement
81	81	system may provide its own educational training to its trustees and
82	82	system administrators if the board determines that the system's
83	83	training meets or exceeds the minimum training requirements
84	84	established by the board. A trustee or system administrator who
85	85	participates in that approved educational training fulfills the
86	86	minimum training requirements established by the board.
87	87	SECTION 3. Section 802.001, Government Code, is amended by
88	88	adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
89	89	(4) "System administrator" means a person designated
90	90	by the governing body of a public retirement system to supervise the
91	91	day-to-day affairs of the public retirement system.
92	92	SECTION 4. The heading to Section 802.107, Government Code,
93	93	is amended to read as follows:
94	94	Sec. 802.107. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO REPORTS AND
95	95	CONTACT INFORMATION.
96	96	SECTION 5. Section 802.107, Government Code, is amended by
97	97	adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to read as follows:
98	98	(c) A public retirement system shall post on a publicly
99	99	available Internet website:
100	100	(1) the name, business address, and business telephone
101	101	number of a system administrator of the public retirement system;
102	102	and
103	103	(2) a copy of the most recent edition of each report
104	104	and other written information that is required by this chapter or
105	105	Chapter 801 to be submitted to the board.
106	106	(d) A public retirement system that maintains a website or
107	107	for which a website is maintained shall prominently post a link on
108	108	that website to the information required by Subsection (c). All
109	109	other public retirement systems shall:
110	110	(1) prominently post the information required by
111	111	Subsection (c) on a website that is maintained by the governing body
112	112	of the political subdivision of which members of the public
113	113	retirement system are officers or employees; or
114	114	(2) post the information required by Subsection (c) on
115	115	a publicly available website that is maintained by a state agency.
116	116	(e) A report or other information posted under Subsection
117	117	(c) must remain posted until replaced with a more recently
118	118	submitted edition of the report or information.
119	119	SECTION 6. Subchapter B, Chapter 802, Government Code, is
120	120	amended by adding Section 802.108 to read as follows:
121	121	Sec. 802.108. REPORT OF INVESTMENT RETURNS AND ASSUMPTIONS.
122	122	(a) A public retirement system shall, before the 211th day after
123	123	the last day of its fiscal year, submit to the board an investment
124	124	returns and actuarial assumptions report that includes:
125	125	(1) gross investment returns and net investment
126	126	returns for each of the most recent 10 fiscal years;
127	127	(2) the rolling gross and rolling net investment
128	128	returns for the most recent 1-year, 3-year, and 10-year periods;
129	129	(3) the rolling gross and rolling net investment
130	130	return for the most recent 30-year period or the gross and net
131	131	investment return since inception of the system, whichever period
132	132	is shorter;
133	133	(4) the assumed rate of return used in the most recent
134	134	actuarial valuation; and
135	135	(5) the assumed rate of return used in each of the most
136	136	recent 10 actuarial valuations.
137	137	(b) For purposes of this section, "net investment return"
138	138	means the gross investment return minus investment expenses. The
139	139	net investment return may be calculated as the money-weighted rate
140	140	of return as required by generally accepted accounting principles.
141	141	The period basis for each report of investment returns under this
142	142	section must be the fiscal year of the public retirement system
143	143	submitting the report.
144	144	(c) If any information required to be reported by a public
145	145	retirement system under Subsection (a) is unavailable, the
146	146	governing body of the public retirement system shall, before the
147	147	211th day after the last day of the public retirement system's
148	148	fiscal year, submit to the board a letter certifying that the
149	149	information is unavailable, providing a reason for the
150	150	unavailability of the information, and agreeing to timely submit
151	151	the information to the board if it becomes available.
152	152	SECTION 7. (a) In this section:
153	153	(1) "Governing body of a public retirement system" and
154	154	"public retirement system" have the meanings assigned by Section
155	155	802.001, Government Code.
156	156	(2) "Pension review board" means the State Pension
157	157	Review Board established under Chapter 801, Government Code.
158	158	(b) The pension review board shall conduct a study of the
159	159	financial health of public retirement systems in this state,
160	160	including each system's ability to meet its long-term obligations
161	161	taking into account the contributions made to, benefits paid by,
162	162	and investments made by the public retirement system. The pension
163	163	review board may adopt rules to define the scope of the study under
164	164	this subsection.
165	165	(c) Each public retirement system shall fully cooperate
166	166	with the pension review board in conducting the study required
167	167	under Subsection (b) of this section and timely respond to requests
168	168	for information made by the board for the purpose of performing the
169	169	study. Confidential information as described by Section
170	170	552.0038(c), Government Code, that is provided by a public
171	171	retirement system under this subsection remains confidential and
172	172	may not be disclosed by the board.
173	173	(d) Not later than September 1, 2014, the pension review
174	174	board shall prepare a written report containing the findings of the
175	175	study conducted under this section, including the board's
176	176	recommendations regarding how a public retirement system may
177	177	mitigate its risk of not meeting its long-term obligations.
178	178	(e) The pension review board shall provide each public
179	179	retirement system covered in the report prepared under Subsection
180	180	(d) of this section a reasonable opportunity to review the portion
181	181	of the report and the recommendations applicable to that retirement
182	182	system and an opportunity to submit a response to the board. The
183	183	board may revise its report after considering a response. Not later
184	184	than December 31, 2014, the board shall submit to the legislature
185	185	the final written report, including the board's recommendations,
186	186	and a copy of the responses provided by the public retirement
187	187	systems under this subsection.
188	188	SECTION 8. (a) The State Pension Review Board shall
189	189	develop and publish the model ethical standards and
190	190	conflict-of-interest policies required by Section 801.210,
191	191	Government Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after
192	192	the effective date of this Act, but not later than December 31,
193	193	2013.
194	194	(b) The State Pension Review Board shall adopt rules to
195	195	implement the educational training program required by Section
196	196	801.211, Government Code, as added by this Act, as soon as
197	197	practicable after the effective date of this Act, but not later than
198	198	necessary to begin providing training classes on or before
199	199	September 1, 2014.
200	200	(c) For purposes of reporting the level of compliance with
201	201	the minimum training requirements of the educational training
202	202	program as required by Section 801.211(b), Government Code, as
203	203	added by this Act, the State Pension Review Board may only evaluate
204	204	compliance with the minimum training requirements by trustees and
205	205	administrators of public retirement systems on or after January 1,
206	206	2015.
207	207	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
208	208	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
209	209	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
210	210	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
211	211	Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
212	212	* * * * *