| 1 | 1 | | By: Muñoz, Jr. H.B. No. 597 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | relating to a cost-of-living increase applicable to benefits paid |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | amended by adding Section 824.703 to read as follows: |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | Sec. 824.703. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT; ANNUAL |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the amount of a |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | service retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in accordance |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | with this section as necessary to reflect inflation. |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | (b) Each year, during the last seven days of October, the |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | calendar year to equal the percentage increase, if any, in the |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | (CPI-W) most recently published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | of the United States Department of Labor that is used by the United |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | States Social Security Administration to provide a cost-of-living |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | adjustment for social security benefit payments payable beginning |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | in January of the next year. |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | (c) Subject to Subsection (d), the board of trustees shall |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | increase the amount of a benefit payable under this chapter by |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | applying the adjustment rate set by the board of trustees under |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | this chapter. |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | (d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | and shall use that rate in increasing benefits under Subsection (c) |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | for that calendar year. |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a benefit paid by the |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2020. |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
|---|