By: Menéndez S.B. No. 217
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a supplemental payment for retirees of the Teacher
Retirement System of Texas and the unfunded actuarial liabilities
allowed under that system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 821.006, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b), the retirement
system may provide a one-time supplemental payment to an annuitant
eligible to receive:
(1) a standard retirement annuity payment;
(2) an optional retirement annuity payment as either a
retiree or beneficiary;
(3) a life annuity payment under Section
824.402(a)(4);
(4) an annuity for a guaranteed period of 60 months
under Section 824.402(a)(3); or
(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
804.005.
(d) A one-time supplemental payment under Subsection (c) is
authorized if the amortization period for the unfunded actuarial
liabilities of the retirement system does not exceed 30 years by one
or more years after payment of the supplemental payment.
SECTION 2. (a) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas
shall make a one-time supplemental payment of a retirement or death
benefit, as provided by Section 821.006, Government Code, as
amended by this Act, and this section.
(b) The supplemental payment is payable not later than
September 2017 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 2017; or
(2) $2,400.
(d) The supplemental payment is payable without regard to
any forfeiture of benefits under Section 824.601, Government Code.
The Teacher 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 the regular
monthly annuity payment to which the eligible annuitant is
otherwise entitled.
(e) Subject to Subsection (f) of this section, to be
eligible for the supplemental payment, a person must be, for the
month of August 2017, and disregarding any forfeiture of benefits
under Section 824.601, Government Code, an annuitant eligible to
receive:
(1) a standard retirement annuity payment;
(2) an optional retirement annuity payment as either a
retiree or beneficiary;
(3) a life annuity payment under Section
824.402(a)(4), Government Code;
(4) an annuity for a guaranteed period of 60 months
under Section 824.402(a)(3), Government Code; or
(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
804.005, Government Code.
(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 Teacher Retirement System of Texas must have been on
or before August 31, 2013. If the annuitant is a beneficiary under
Section 824.402(a)(3) or (4), Government Code, to be eligible for
the supplemental payment, the date of death of the member of the
retirement system must have been on or before August 31, 2013. 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
August 31, 2013. The supplemental payment is in addition to the
guaranteed number of payments under Section 824.402(a)(3),
824.204(c)(3) or (4), or 824.308(c)(3) or (4), Government Code, and
may not be counted as one of the guaranteed monthly payments.
(g) The supplemental payment does not apply to payments
under:
(1) Section 824.304(a), Government Code, relating to
disability retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;
(2) Section 824.804(b), Government Code, relating to
participants in the deferred retirement option plan with regard to
payments from their deferred retirement option plan accounts;
(3) Section 824.501(a), Government Code, relating to
retiree survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an
amount fixed by statute; or
(4) Section 824.404(a), Government Code, relating to
active member survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity
in an amount fixed by statute.
(h) Except as provided by this section, the board of
trustees of the Teacher 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.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.