| 1 | 1 | | 85S10910 TSR-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Hernandez H.B. No. 246 |
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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 a cost-of-living increase applicable to benefits paid |
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| 8 | 8 | | by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. |
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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. Subchapter A, Chapter 824, Government Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended by adding Section 824.010 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 824.010. ADJUSTMENT FOR COST OF LIVING. (a) The |
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| 13 | 13 | | amount of a service retirement benefit, disability retirement |
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| 14 | 14 | | benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in |
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| 15 | 15 | | accordance with this section as necessary to reflect inflation. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (b) Each year, during the last seven days of October, the |
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| 17 | 17 | | board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next |
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| 18 | 18 | | calendar year to equal the percentage increase, if any, in the |
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| 19 | 19 | | Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers |
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| 20 | 20 | | (CPI-W) most recently published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics |
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| 21 | 21 | | of the United States Department of Labor and used by the United |
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| 22 | 22 | | States Social Security Administration to provide a cost-of-living |
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| 23 | 23 | | adjustment for social security benefit payments payable beginning |
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| 24 | 24 | | in January of the next year. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (c) The board of trustees shall recompute the amount of a |
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| 26 | 26 | | benefit paid under this chapter by applying the adjustment computed |
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| 27 | 27 | | under Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as |
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| 28 | 28 | | determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of |
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| 29 | 29 | | this chapter. |
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| 30 | 30 | | (d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase |
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| 31 | 31 | | under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that |
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| 32 | 32 | | the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available |
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| 33 | 33 | | to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees |
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| 34 | 34 | | finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the |
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| 35 | 35 | | amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount |
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| 36 | 36 | | of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the |
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| 37 | 37 | | largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money |
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| 38 | 38 | | available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system |
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| 39 | 39 | | and shall use that rate in recomputing the benefit amount under |
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| 40 | 40 | | Subsection (c) for that calendar year. |
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| 41 | 41 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a benefit paid by the |
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| 42 | 42 | | Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2018. |
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| 43 | 43 | | SECTION 3. Notwithstanding Section 824.010(b), Government |
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| 44 | 44 | | Code, as added by this Act, for the 2018 calendar year, the board of |
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| 45 | 45 | | trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall set the |
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| 46 | 46 | | rate of the adjustment to be applied to the amount of a service |
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| 47 | 47 | | retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or death |
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| 48 | 48 | | benefit in the manner provided by Section 824.010, Government Code, |
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| 49 | 49 | | as added by this Act, not later than December 8, 2017. |
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| 50 | 50 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 51 | 51 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 52 | 52 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 53 | 53 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 54 | 54 | | Act takes effect December 1, 2017. |
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