| 1 | 1 | | 88R3336 BDP-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Martinez H.B. No. 1137 |
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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 cost-of-living increases applicable to benefits paid by |
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| 8 | 8 | | 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 H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended by adding Section 824.703 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 824.703. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION; |
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| 13 | 13 | | ANNUAL DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the |
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| 14 | 14 | | amount of a service retirement benefit, disability retirement |
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| 15 | 15 | | benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in |
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| 16 | 16 | | accordance with this section as necessary to reflect inflation. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (b) Each year, during the last seven days of October, the |
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| 18 | 18 | | board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next |
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| 19 | 19 | | calendar year to equal the annual percentage increase, if any, in |
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| 20 | 20 | | the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical |
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| 21 | 21 | | Workers (CPI-W) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the |
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| 22 | 22 | | United States Department of Labor as determined by the commissioner |
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| 23 | 23 | | of social security under 42 U.S.C. Section 415(i) for purposes of |
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| 24 | 24 | | providing an annual cost-of-living increase to social security |
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| 25 | 25 | | benefit payments payable in the next calendar year. |
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| 26 | 26 | | (c) Subject to Subsection (d), the board of trustees shall |
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| 27 | 27 | | increase the amount of a benefit payable under this chapter by |
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| 28 | 28 | | applying the adjustment rate set by the board of trustees under |
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| 29 | 29 | | Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as |
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| 30 | 30 | | determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of |
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| 31 | 31 | | this chapter. |
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| 32 | 32 | | (d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase |
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| 33 | 33 | | under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that |
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| 34 | 34 | | the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available |
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| 35 | 35 | | to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees |
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| 36 | 36 | | finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the |
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| 37 | 37 | | amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount |
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| 38 | 38 | | of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the |
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| 39 | 39 | | largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money |
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| 40 | 40 | | available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system |
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| 41 | 41 | | and shall use that rate in increasing benefits under Subsection (c) |
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| 42 | 42 | | for that calendar year. |
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| 43 | 43 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a benefit paid by the |
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| 44 | 44 | | Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2024. |
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| 45 | 45 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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