88R2161 BDP-D
By: Herrero H.B. No. 3818
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to financial assistance paid to survivors of certain
public school employees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 615A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 615A. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO SURVIVORS OF CERTAIN PUBLIC
SCHOOL EMPLOYEES
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 615A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Deadly weapon" means:
(A) a firearm or anything manifestly designed,
made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious
bodily injury; or
(B) anything that in the manner of its use or
intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.
(2) "Employer" has the meaning assigned by Section
821.001.
(3) "Firearm" means any device designed, made, or
adapted to expel a projectile through a barrel by using the energy
generated by an explosion or burning substance or any device
readily convertible to that use.
(4) "Minor child" means a child who:
(A) on the date of the death of a public school
employee, is younger than 18 years of age; and
(B) if the child is not a biological or adopted
child, was claimed as a dependent on the federal income tax return
of a public school employee for the year preceding the year of the
employee's death.
(5) "Personal injury" means physical or mental harm.
(6) "Public school" has the meaning assigned by
Section 821.001.
(7) "Public school employee" means a person who is
employed, as determined by the retirement system, by a public
school.
(8) "Retirement system" means the Teacher Retirement
System of Texas.
Sec. 615A.002. ADMINISTRATION OF CHAPTER. The board of
trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall administer
this chapter under rules adopted by the board.
Sec. 615A.003. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
eligible survivors of a public school employee.
Sec. 615A.004. EFFECT OF AWARD. (a) A finding that
assistance is payable to an eligible survivor of a public school
employee is not a declaration of the cause, nature, or effect of a
death for any other purpose.
(b) A finding that a death is within the provisions of this
chapter does not affect another claim or cause of action arising
from or connected to the death.
Sec. 615A.005. ASSISTANCE NOT ASSIGNABLE; PAYMENTS EXEMPT.
(a) Assistance payable under this chapter is not transferable or
assignable at law or in equity.
(b) Money paid or payable under this chapter is not subject
to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process
or to the operation of any insolvency law.
Sec. 615A.006. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE. A survivor may
not receive payment of assistance under this chapter for a loss or
expense for which the survivor or another person has already
received compensation under a claim for compensation under Chapter
56B, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SUBCHAPTER B. PAYMENTS TO ELIGIBLE SURVIVORS
Sec. 615A.101. ELIGIBLE SURVIVORS. (a) A survivor of a
public school employee is eligible for the payment of assistance
under this chapter if:
(1) the employee was a victim who died from a personal
injury sustained as a result of an event or occurrence involving the
use of a firearm or other deadly weapon and that event or occurrence
happened while the employee was:
(A) in or on the grounds of a public school, even
if the event or occurrence happened before or after the employee's
regular work hours;
(B) traveling to or from a regular session of
school; or
(C) attending or traveling to or from an official
school-sponsored or school-related event; and
(2) the survivor is:
(A) the surviving spouse of the employee;
(B) a surviving child of the employee, if there
is no surviving spouse; or
(C) a surviving parent of the employee, if there
is no surviving spouse or child.
(b) Payment of assistance may not occur under this chapter
unless the survivor is eligible under Subsection (a).
(c) In a determination of whether the survivor of a public
school employee is eligible for payment of assistance under this
chapter, any reasonable doubt arising from the circumstances of the
employee's death shall be resolved in favor of the payment of
assistance to the survivor.
Sec. 615A.102. PAYMENT TO SURVIVORS. (a) If there is an
eligible surviving spouse, the state shall pay the benefits
described by Subsection (d) to the eligible surviving spouse.
(b) If there is no eligible surviving spouse, the state
shall pay the benefits described by Subsection (d) in equal shares
to surviving children.
(c) If there is no eligible surviving spouse or child, the
state shall pay the benefits described by Subsection (d) in equal
shares to surviving parents.
(d) An eligible survivor, or eligible survivors in equal
shares, are entitled to receive a lump sum payment in the amount
provided by this subsection. The lump sum payment amount payable to
an eligible survivor during the 12 months beginning September 1,
2023, is $500,000. Effective September 1 of each following year,
the board of trustees of the retirement system by rule shall adjust
the amount of the lump sum payment required under this subsection by
an amount equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index
for All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the United States Department of Labor for the
preceding year. The amount paid to an eligible survivor or
survivors as adjusted under this subsection is calculated based on
the date of the decedent's death and not on the date the eligible
survivor or survivors file a claim under this chapter.
Sec. 615A.103. PAYMENT TO SURVIVING MINOR CHILD. (a) The
state shall pay to the duly appointed or qualified guardian or other
legal representative of an eligible surviving minor child:
(1) $400 each month, if there is one surviving child;
(2) $600 each month, if there are two surviving
children; or
(3) $800 each month, if there are three or more
surviving children.
(b) A child's entitlement to assistance payable under this
section ends on the last day of the month that includes the child's
18th birthday. At that time, payments to any other surviving minor
children shall be adjusted, as necessary, to conform to the amounts
payable under Subsection (a).
(c) A payment under this section is in addition to any
payment made under Section 615A.102.
SUBCHAPTER C. ADMINISTRATION AND PROCEDURE
Sec. 615A.201. CONSIDERATION AND DETERMINATION OF CLAIM;
COMPELLED COMPLIANCE. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the
date of the death of a public school employee in a manner described
by Section 615A.101(a)(1), the employee's employer shall furnish to
the board of trustees of the retirement system proof of the death in
the form and with additional evidence and information required by
the board. The employer shall furnish the evidence and information
required under this subsection regardless of whether the employing
entity believes the employee's death satisfies the eligibility
requirements established under Section 615A.101(a)(1).
(b) The board of trustees shall consider the proof,
evidence, and information provided under Subsection (a), and any
additional information required by the rules adopted in accordance
with Section 615A.002, to determine whether the employee's death
satisfies the eligibility requirements established under Section
615A.101(a)(1) and justifies the payment of assistance to the
employee's eligible survivors under this chapter.
(c) If the employee's employer fails to comply with
Subsection (a), the attorney general may use any means authorized
by law, including filing suit for a writ of mandamus against the
employer, to compel the employer's compliance with this section.
Sec. 615A.202. AWARD AND PAYMENT OF ASSISTANCE. (a) The
retirement system shall notify the comptroller of the retirement
system's determination that a claim under this chapter is valid and
justifies payment.
(b) On receipt of notice, the comptroller shall issue a
warrant to each claimant in the proper amount from the fund
appropriated for that purpose.
(c) Payments under this chapter on behalf of a surviving
child are payable beginning on the first day of the first month
after the death of the public school employee.
Sec. 615A.203. DENIAL OF CLAIM. If the retirement system
denies a claim, the retirement system shall send a notice of the
denial to:
(1) the person making the claim; or
(2) the duly qualified guardian or legal
representative of a surviving minor child, if a claim is being made
on behalf of the child.
Sec. 615A.204. APPEALS. (a) An eligible survivor or the
eligible survivor's legal representative whose claim for payment is
denied may appeal the denial to the board of trustees of the
retirement system.
(b) An appeal under this section is considered to be an
appeal of a contested case under Chapter 2001 and shall be conducted
in the same manner as an appeal described by Section 825.115.
(c) Judicial review of a decision under this section is
under the substantial evidence rule as provided by Chapter 2001.
Sec. 615A.205. RECORDS. (a) Records of public school
employees and of survivors eligible for benefits under this chapter
that are in the custody of the retirement system, an administering
firm as defined by Section 1579.002, Insurance Code, a carrier as
defined by Section 1575.002, Insurance Code, or another
governmental agency acting with or on behalf of the retirement
system are confidential and not subject to public disclosure, and
the retirement system, administering firm, carrier, or
governmental agency is not required to accept or comply with a
request for a record or information about a record or to seek an
opinion from the attorney general, because the records are exempt
from the provisions of Chapter 552, except as otherwise provided by
this section.
(b) Records may be released to an eligible survivor or to an
authorized attorney, family member, or representative acting on
behalf of the eligible survivor. The retirement system may release
the records to an administering firm, carrier, agent, or attorney
acting on behalf of the retirement system, to another governmental
entity having a legitimate need for the information to perform the
purposes of the retirement system, or to a party in response to a
subpoena issued under applicable law.
(c) A record released or received by the retirement system
under this section may be transmitted electronically, including
through the use of an electronic signature or certification in a
form acceptable to the retirement system. An unintentional
disclosure to, or unauthorized access by, a third party related to
the transmission or receipt of information under this section is
not a violation by the retirement system of any law, including a law
or rule relating to the protection of confidential information.
(d) The records of public school employees and of eligible
survivors remain confidential after release to a person as
authorized by this section. The records of public school employees
and of eligible survivors may become part of the public record of an
administrative or judicial proceeding related to an appeal filed
under this chapter, unless the records are closed to public access
by a protective order issued under applicable law.
(e) The retirement system has sole discretion in
determining whether a record is subject to this section. For
purposes of this section, a record includes any identifying
information about any person, living or deceased, who is or was:
(1) a public school employee; or
(2) a survivor, heir, or beneficiary of a public
school employee.
SUBCHAPTER D. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR ELIGIBLE SURVIVORS
Sec. 615A.301. PAYMENTS TO SURVIVING SPOUSE. (a) In this
section, "public retirement system" has the meaning assigned by
Section 802.001.
(b) The state shall pay the following benefits to an
eligible surviving spouse of a public school employee whose death
satisfies the eligibility requirements established under Section
615A.101(a)(1) and who had not qualified for an annuity under a
public retirement system:
(1) funeral expenses related to the deceased employee;
and
(2) monthly payments that equal the monthly annuity
payment the deceased employee would have received if the employee
had survived, had retired on the last day of the month in which the
employee died, and had been eligible to receive an annuity under a
public retirement system.
(c) The surviving spouse is entitled to continue to receive
monthly payments under Subsection (b) until the earlier of:
(1) the date the surviving spouse remarries;
(2) the date the surviving spouse becomes eligible for
a service retirement benefit under a public retirement system; or
(3) the date the surviving spouse becomes eligible for
Social Security benefits.
(d) The retirement system may require the surviving spouse
to provide information as necessary to administer this section.
(e) The board of trustees of the retirement system may adopt
rules necessary to administer this section, including rules:
(1) setting the maximum amount of funeral expenses
payable under this subchapter; and
(2) calculating the survivor benefits payable under
this subchapter.
(f) The retirement system shall apply reduction factors, as
applicable to an annuity payable under this section, in the same
manner the factors are applied to a benefit plan administered by the
system.
Sec. 615A.302. PAYMENTS TO SURVIVING MINOR CHILDREN. If a
public school employee whose death satisfies the eligibility
requirements established under Section 615A.101(a)(1) did not have
an eligible surviving spouse who would be entitled to benefits
under Section 615A.301 at the time of the employee's death does have
one or more eligible surviving minor children, the state shall pay
to the guardian or other legal representative of those children the
funeral expenses of the deceased employee.
Sec. 615A.303. BENEFITS ADDITIONAL. The benefits provided
by this subchapter are in addition to any other benefits provided by
this chapter.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
the death of a public school employee that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. A death that occurred before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
death occurred, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.