1 | 1 | | 85R45 SGA-D |
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2 | 2 | | By: Taylor of Collin S.B. No. 930 |
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3 | 3 | | |
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4 | 4 | | |
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5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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7 | 7 | | relating to the nonconfidential status of certain state pension |
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8 | 8 | | information. |
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9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 552.0038, Government Code, is amended by |
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11 | 11 | | amending Subsections (c), (h), and (i) and adding Subsection (h-1) |
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12 | 12 | | to read as follows: |
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13 | 13 | | (c) Except as provided by Subsection (h-1), records |
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14 | 14 | | [Records] of individual members, annuitants, retirees, |
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15 | 15 | | beneficiaries, alternate payees, program participants, or persons |
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16 | 16 | | eligible for benefits from a retirement system under a retirement |
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17 | 17 | | plan or program administered by the retirement system that are in |
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18 | 18 | | the custody of the system or in the custody of an administering |
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19 | 19 | | firm, a carrier, or another governmental agency, including the |
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20 | 20 | | comptroller, acting in cooperation with or on behalf of the |
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21 | 21 | | retirement system are confidential and not subject to public |
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22 | 22 | | disclosure. The retirement system, administering firm, carrier, or |
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23 | 23 | | governmental agency is not required to accept or comply with a |
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24 | 24 | | request for a record or information about a record or to seek an |
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25 | 25 | | opinion from the attorney general because the records are exempt |
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26 | 26 | | from the provisions of this chapter, except as otherwise provided |
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27 | 27 | | by this section. |
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28 | 28 | | (h) Except as provided by Subsection (h-1), the [The] |
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29 | 29 | | retirement system has sole discretion in determining whether a |
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30 | 30 | | record is subject to this section. For purposes of this section, a |
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31 | 31 | | record includes any identifying information about a person, living |
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32 | 32 | | or deceased, who is or was a member, annuitant, retiree, |
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33 | 33 | | beneficiary, alternate payee, program participant, or person |
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34 | 34 | | eligible for benefits from the retirement system under any |
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35 | 35 | | retirement plan or program administered by the retirement system. |
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36 | 36 | | (h-1) This subsection applies only to a person who is or was |
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37 | 37 | | a member of the legislature and receives a service retirement |
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38 | 38 | | annuity from the Employees Retirement System of Texas. For a person |
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39 | 39 | | to whom this subsection applies, the Employees Retirement System of |
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40 | 40 | | Texas may not withhold as confidential the person's name or the |
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41 | 41 | | amount of the person's annuity. |
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42 | 42 | | (i) Except as provided by Subsection (h-1), to [To] the |
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43 | 43 | | extent of a conflict between this section and any other law with |
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44 | 44 | | respect to the confidential information held by a public retirement |
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45 | 45 | | system or other entity described by Subsection (c) concerning an |
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46 | 46 | | individual member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate |
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47 | 47 | | payee, program participant, or person eligible for benefits from |
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48 | 48 | | the retirement system, the prevailing provision is the provision |
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49 | 49 | | that provides the greater substantive and procedural protection for |
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50 | 50 | | the privacy of information concerning that individual member, |
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51 | 51 | | annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, alternate payee, program |
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52 | 52 | | participant, or person eligible for benefits. |
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53 | 53 | | SECTION 2. Sections 815.503(a) and (e), Government Code, |
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54 | 54 | | are amended to read as follows: |
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55 | 55 | | (a) Except as provided by Section 552.0038(h-1), records |
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56 | 56 | | [Records] of members, annuitants, retirees, beneficiaries, and |
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57 | 57 | | alternate payees under retirement plans administered by the |
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58 | 58 | | retirement system that are in the custody of the system or of an |
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59 | 59 | | administering firm, carrier, or other governmental agency acting in |
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60 | 60 | | cooperation with or on behalf of the retirement system are |
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61 | 61 | | confidential and not subject to public disclosure, and the |
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62 | 62 | | retirement system, administering firm, carrier, or governmental |
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63 | 63 | | agency is not required to accept or comply with a request for a |
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64 | 64 | | record or information about a record or to seek an opinion from the |
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65 | 65 | | attorney general, because the records are exempt from the |
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66 | 66 | | provisions of Chapter 552, except as otherwise provided by this |
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67 | 67 | | section. |
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68 | 68 | | (e) Except as provided by Section 552.0038(h-1), the [The] |
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69 | 69 | | retirement system has sole discretion in determining if a record is |
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70 | 70 | | subject to this section. For purposes of this section, a record |
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71 | 71 | | includes any identifying information about a person, living or |
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72 | 72 | | deceased, who is or was a member, annuitant, retiree, beneficiary, |
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73 | 73 | | or alternate payee, under any retirement plan or program |
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74 | 74 | | administered by the retirement system. |
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75 | 75 | | SECTION 3. Section 552.0038(h-1), Government Code, as added |
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76 | 76 | | by this Act, applies only to a request for information received by |
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77 | 77 | | the Employees Retirement System of Texas on or after the effective |
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78 | 78 | | date of this Act. A request for information received before that |
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79 | 79 | | date is governed by the law in effect on the date the request is |
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80 | 80 | | received, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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81 | 81 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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82 | 82 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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83 | 83 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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84 | 84 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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85 | 85 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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