Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2579 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R10195 BDP-D
2	2	By: Davis H.B. No. 2579
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to adjustments to certain benefits paid by the Teacher
8	8	Retirement System of Texas.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Sections 824.7015 and 824.703 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 824.7015. ADJUSTMENT TO BENEFITS. (a)
13	13	Notwithstanding Section 824.702, the amount of a monthly service
14	14	retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or death
15	15	benefit paid under this chapter is increased to include a one-time
16	16	10 percent adjustment in accordance with this section.
17	17	(b) The board of trustees shall recompute the amount of a
18	18	benefit paid monthly under this chapter by applying the 10 percent
19	19	adjustment to the monthly amount otherwise required to be paid as
20	20	determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of
21	21	this chapter and other law.
22	22	Sec. 824.703. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION;
23	23	ANNUAL DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the
24	24	amount of a service retirement benefit, disability retirement
25	25	benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in
26	26	accordance with this section as necessary to reflect inflation.
27	27	(b) Each year, during the last seven days of October, the
28	28	board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next
29	29	calendar year to equal the annual percentage increase, if any, in
30	30	the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
31	31	Workers (CPI-W) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
32	32	United States Department of Labor as determined by the commissioner
33	33	of social security under 42 U.S.C. Section 415(i) for purposes of
34	34	providing an annual cost-of-living increase to social security
35	35	benefit payments payable in the next calendar year.
36	36	(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the board of trustees shall
37	37	increase the amount of a benefit payable under this chapter by
38	38	applying the adjustment rate set by the board of trustees under
39	39	Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as
40	40	determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of
41	41	this chapter.
42	42	(d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase
43	43	under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that
44	44	the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available
45	45	to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees
46	46	finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the
47	47	amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount
48	48	of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the
49	49	largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money
50	50	available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system
51	51	and shall use that rate in increasing benefits under Subsection (c)
52	52	for that calendar year.
53	53	SECTION 2. Sections 824.7015 and 824.703, Government Code,
54	54	as added by this Act, apply only to a benefit paid by the Teacher
55	55	Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2024.
56	56	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.