Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4608 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R16481 BDP-D
2	2	By: Allen H.B. No. 4608
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to certain benefits paid by the Employees Retirement
8	8	System of Texas.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 814, Government Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Sections 814.605 and 814.606 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 814.605. ONE-TIME ADJUSTMENT TO BENEFITS. (a) The
13	13	amount of a monthly service retirement benefit, disability
14	14	retirement benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter to a
15	15	retiree or beneficiary for service credited in the employee class
16	16	is increased to include a one-time 10 percent adjustment in
17	17	accordance with this section.
18	18	(b) The board of trustees shall recompute the amount of a
19	19	benefit paid monthly under this chapter by applying the 10 percent
20	20	adjustment to the monthly amount otherwise required to be paid as
21	21	determined in accordance with this chapter.
22	22	Sec. 814.606. ANNUAL COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT. (a)
23	23	Notwithstanding Section 814.605, the amount of a monthly service
24	24	retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or death
25	25	benefit paid under this chapter to a retiree or beneficiary for
26	26	service credited in the employee class is increased to include an
27	27	annual cost-of-living adjustment equal to the annual percentage
28	28	increase, if any, during the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer
29	29	Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)
30	30	published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States
31	31	Department of Labor in accordance with this section.
32	32	(b) On January 1 of each year, the board of trustees shall
33	33	recompute the amount of a benefit paid monthly under this chapter by
34	34	applying the adjustment prescribed by Subsection (a) to the monthly
35	35	amount otherwise required to be paid as determined in accordance
36	36	with this chapter.
37	37	SECTION 2. (a) The Employees Retirement System of Texas
38	38	shall make a one-time supplemental payment of a retirement or death
39	39	benefit, as provided by this section.
40	40	(b) A supplemental payment is payable in January 2024, and,
41	41	to the extent practicable, on a date or dates that coincide with the
42	42	regular annuity payment payable to each eligible annuitant.
43	43	(c) The amount of the supplemental payment is equal to the
44	44	lesser of:
45	45	(1) $2,000; or
46	46	(2) the gross amount of the regular annuity payment to
47	47	which the eligible annuitant is otherwise entitled for the month of
48	48	December 2023.
49	49	(d) The Employees Retirement System of Texas shall make
50	50	applicable tax withholding and other legally required deductions
51	51	before disbursing the supplemental payment. A supplemental payment
52	52	under this section is in addition to and not in lieu of the regular
53	53	monthly annuity payment to which the eligible annuitant is
54	54	otherwise entitled.
55	55	(e) Subject to Subsections (f) and (g) of this section, to
56	56	be eligible for the supplemental payment, a person must be, for the
57	57	month of December 2023, an annuitant eligible to receive:
58	58	(1) a standard retirement annuity payment;
59	59	(2) an optional service retirement annuity payment as
60	60	either a retiree or beneficiary under Section 814.108, Government
61	61	Code;
62	62	(3) a standard or occupational disability retirement
63	63	annuity payment;
64	64	(4) a death benefit annuity payment under Section
65	65	814.305, Government Code; or
66	66	(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
67	67	804.005, Government Code.
68	68	(f) If the annuitant is a retiree or a beneficiary under an
69	69	optional retirement payment plan, to be eligible for the
70	70	supplemental payment, the effective date of the retirement of the
71	71	member of the Employees Retirement System of Texas must have been on
72	72	or before September 1, 2022. The supplemental payment shall be made
73	73	to an alternate payee who is an annuitant under Section 804.005,
74	74	Government Code, only if the annuity payment to the alternate payee
75	75	commenced on or before September 1, 2022. The supplemental payment
76	76	is in addition to the guaranteed number of payments under Section
77	77	814.108, Government Code, and may not be counted as one of the
78	78	guaranteed monthly payments.
79	79	(g) The supplemental payment does not apply to payments
80	80	under:
81	81	(1) Section 814.103 or 814.205, Government Code,
82	82	relating to retirees or disability retirees from the elected class
83	83	of membership;
84	84	(2) a subtitle other than Subtitle B, Title 8,
85	85	Government Code, except as provided by Subsection (e)(5) of this
86	86	section; or
87	87	(3) Section 814.304, Government Code, relating to
88	88	retiree survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity as
89	89	the surviving spouse of a member of the elected class.
90	90	(h) Except as provided by this section, the board of
91	91	trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas shall
92	92	determine the eligibility for and the amount and timing of a
93	93	supplemental payment and the manner in which the payment is made.
94	94	(i) The supplemental payment is subject solely to the
95	95	availability of appropriated funds. The supplemental payment must
96	96	comply with Section 811.006, Government Code.
97	97	SECTION 3. Section 814.604, Government Code, is repealed.
98	98	SECTION 4. Sections 814.605 and 814.606, Government Code,
99	99	as added by this Act, apply only to a monthly benefit payment made
100	100	by the Employees Retirement System of Texas on or after September 1,
101	101	2023.
102	102	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.