Texas 2021 - 87th 2nd C.S.

Texas House Bill HB177 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87S20458 BDP-F
2	2	By: Dominguez H.B. No. 177
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to certain benefits paid by the Teacher Retirement System
8	8	of Texas.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. (a) Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code,
11	11	is amended by adding Section 824.703 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 824.703. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION;
13	13	ANNUAL DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the
14	14	amount of a service retirement benefit, disability retirement
15	15	benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in
16	16	accordance with this section as necessary to reflect inflation.
17	17	(b) Each year, during the last seven days of October, the
18	18	board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next
19	19	calendar year to equal the annual percentage increase, if any, in
20	20	the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
21	21	Workers (CPI-W) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
22	22	United States Department of Labor as determined by the commissioner
23	23	of social security under 42 U.S.C. Section 415(i) for purposes of
24	24	providing an annual cost-of-living increase to social security
25	25	benefit payments payable in the next calendar year.
26	26	(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the board of trustees shall
27	27	increase the amount of a benefit payable under this chapter by
28	28	applying the adjustment rate set by the board of trustees under
29	29	Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as
30	30	determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of
31	31	this chapter.
32	32	(d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase
33	33	under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that
34	34	the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available
35	35	to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees
36	36	finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the
37	37	amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount
38	38	of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the
39	39	largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money
40	40	available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system
41	41	and shall use that rate in increasing benefits under Subsection (c)
42	42	for that calendar year.
43	43	(b) This section applies only to a benefit paid by the
44	44	Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2023.
45	45	SECTION 2. (a) Subject to Section 821.006, Government
46	46	Code, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall make a one-time
47	47	supplemental payment of a retirement or death benefit, as provided
48	48	by this section.
49	49	(b) The supplemental payment is payable not later than
50	50	January 2022 and, to the extent practicable, on a date or dates that
51	51	coincide with the regular annuity payment payable to each eligible
52	52	annuitant.
53	53	(c) The amount of the supplemental payment is equal to the
54	54	lesser of:
55	55	(1) the gross amount of the regular annuity payment to
56	56	which the eligible annuitant is otherwise entitled for the calendar
57	57	month immediately prior to the calendar month in which the Teacher
58	58	Retirement System of Texas issues the one-time supplemental payment
59	59	in accordance with Subsection (b) of this section; or
60	60	(2) $2,400.
61	61	(d) The supplemental payment is payable without regard to
62	62	any forfeiture of benefits under Section 824.601, Government Code.
63	63	The Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall make applicable tax
64	64	withholding and other legally required deductions before
65	65	disbursing the supplemental payment. A supplemental payment under
66	66	this section is in addition to and not in lieu of the regular
67	67	monthly annuity payment to which the eligible annuitant is
68	68	otherwise entitled.
69	69	(e) Subject to Subsection (f) of this section, to be
70	70	eligible for the supplemental payment, a person must be, for the
71	71	calendar month immediately prior to the calendar month in which the
72	72	Teacher Retirement System of Texas issues the one-time supplemental
73	73	payment in accordance with Subsection (b) of this section, and
74	74	disregarding any forfeiture of benefits under Section 824.601,
75	75	Government Code, an annuitant eligible to receive:
76	76	(1) a standard retirement annuity payment;
77	77	(2) an optional retirement annuity payment as either a
78	78	retiree or beneficiary;
79	79	(3) a life annuity payment under Section
80	80	824.402(a)(4), Government Code;
81	81	(4) an annuity for a guaranteed period of 60 months
82	82	under Section 824.402(a)(3), Government Code; or
83	83	(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
84	84	804.005, Government Code.
85	85	(f) If the annuitant is a retiree or a beneficiary under an
86	86	optional retirement payment plan, to be eligible for the
87	87	supplemental payment, the effective date of the retirement of the
88	88	member of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas must have been on
89	89	or before July 31, 2021. If the annuitant is a beneficiary under
90	90	Section 824.402(a)(3) or (4), Government Code, to be eligible for
91	91	the supplemental payment, the date of death of the member of the
92	92	retirement system must have been on or before July 31, 2021. The
93	93	supplemental payment shall be made to an alternate payee who is an
94	94	annuitant under Section 804.005, Government Code, only if the
95	95	annuity payment to the alternate payee commenced on or before July
96	96	31, 2021. The supplemental payment is in addition to the guaranteed
97	97	number of payments under Section 824.204(c)(3) or (4), Section
98	98	824.308(c)(3) or (4), or Section 824.402(a)(3), Government Code,
99	99	and may not be counted as one of the guaranteed monthly payments.
100	100	(g) The supplemental payment does not apply to payments
101	101	under:
102	102	(1) Section 824.304(a), Government Code, relating to
103	103	disability retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;
104	104	(2) Section 824.804(b), Government Code, relating to
105	105	participants in the deferred retirement option plan with regard to
106	106	payments from their deferred retirement option plan accounts;
107	107	(3) Section 824.501(a), Government Code, relating to
108	108	retiree survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an
109	109	amount fixed by statute; or
110	110	(4) Section 824.404(a), Government Code, relating to
111	111	active member survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity
112	112	in an amount fixed by statute.
113	113	(h) Except as provided by this section, the board of
114	114	trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall determine
115	115	the eligibility for and the amount and timing of a supplemental
116	116	payment and the manner in which the payment is made.
117	117	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
118	118	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
119	119	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
120	120	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
121	121	Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
122	122	legislative session.