By: Huffman, et al. S.B. No. 10
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2023; March 13, 2023, read
first time and referred to Committee on Finance; March 27, 2023,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 17, Nays 0; March 27, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 10 By: Nichols
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain benefits paid by the Teacher Retirement System
of Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 824.703 to read as follows:
Sec. 824.703. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT: SEPTEMBER 2023.
(a) The retirement system shall make an additional one-time
cost-of-living adjustment payable to annuitants receiving a
monthly death or retirement benefit annuity, as provided by this
section.
(b) Subject to Subsection (c) and except as provided by
Subsection (d), to be eligible for the adjustment, a person must be,
on the effective date of the adjustment and disregarding any
forfeiture of benefits under Section 824.601, an annuitant eligible
to receive:
(1) a standard service or disability retirement
annuity payment;
(2) an optional service or disability retirement
annuity payment as either a retiree or beneficiary;
(3) an annuity payment under Section 824.402(a)(3) or
(4);
(4) an annuity payment under Section 824.502; or
(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
804.005.
(c) If the annuitant:
(1) is a retiree, or is a beneficiary under an optional
service or disability retirement payment plan, to be eligible for
the adjustment under this section:
(A) the annuitant must be living on the effective
date of the adjustment; and
(B) the effective date of the retirement of the
member of the retirement system on whose service the annuity is
based must have been on or before December 31, 2021;
(2) is a beneficiary under Section 824.402(a)(3) or
(4) or 824.502, to be eligible for the adjustment:
(A) the annuitant must be living on the effective
date of the adjustment; and
(B) the date of death of the member of the
retirement system on whose service the annuity is based must have
been on or before December 31, 2021; or
(3) is an alternate payee under Section 804.005, the
annuitant is eligible for the adjustment only if the effective date
of the election to receive the annuity payment was on or before
December 31, 2021.
(d) An adjustment made under this section does not apply to
payments under:
(1) Section 824.203(d), relating to retirees who
receive a standard service retirement annuity in an amount fixed by
statute;
(2) Section 824.304(a), relating to disability
retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;
(3) Section 824.304(b)(2), relating to disability
retirees who receive a disability annuity in an amount fixed by
statute;
(4) Section 824.404(a), relating to active member
survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an amount
fixed by statute;
(5) Section 824.501(a), relating to retiree survivor
beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an amount fixed by
statute; or
(6) Section 824.804(b), relating to participants in
the deferred retirement option plan with regard to payments from
their deferred retirement option plan accounts.
(e) An adjustment under this section must be made beginning
with an annuity payable for the month of September 2023.
(f) The amount of the adjustment provided under this section
is calculated by multiplying the amount of the monthly benefit
subject to the adjustment by the following percentage rate, as
applicable:
(1) for annuitants described by Subsection (c)(1):
(A) if the retiree's effective date of retirement
was before September 1, 2013, four percent; and
(B) if the retiree's effective date of retirement
was on or after September 1, 2013, but before January 1, 2022, two
percent;
(2) for annuitants described by Subsection (c)(2):
(A) if the member's date of death was before
September 1, 2013, four percent; and
(B) if the member's date of death was on or after
September 1, 2013, but before January 1, 2022, two percent; and
(3) for annuitants described by Subsection (c)(3):
(A) if the annuitant's date of election was
before September 1, 2013, four percent; and
(B) if the annuitant's date of election was on or
after September 1, 2013, but before January 1, 2022, two percent.
(g) The board of trustees shall determine the eligibility
for and the amount of any adjustment in monthly annuities in
accordance with this section.
SECTION 2. (a) Subject to Subsections (e) and (i) of this
section and Section 821.006, Government Code, and except as
provided by Subsection (g) of this section, the Teacher Retirement
System of Texas shall make a one-time supplemental payment of a
retirement or death benefit, as provided by this section.
(b) The supplemental payment is payable not later than
February 2024 and, to the extent practicable, on a date or dates
that coincide with the regular annuity payment payable to each
eligible annuitant.
(c) The amount of the supplemental payment is equal to
$7,500.
(d) The supplemental payment is payable without regard to
any forfeiture of benefits under Section 824.601, Government Code.
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall make applicable tax
withholding and other legally required deductions before
disbursing the supplemental payment. A supplemental payment under
this section is in addition to and not in lieu of the regular
monthly annuity payment to which the eligible annuitant is
otherwise entitled.
(e) To be eligible for the supplemental payment, a person
must be, for the calendar month immediately prior to the calendar
month in which the Teacher Retirement System of Texas issues the
one-time supplemental payment in accordance with Subsection (b) of
this section, an annuitant who is:
(1) at least 75 years of age; and
(2) eligible to receive:
(A) a standard retirement annuity payment;
(B) an optional retirement annuity payment as
either a retiree or beneficiary;
(C) a life annuity payment under Section
824.402(a)(4), Government Code;
(D) an annuity for a guaranteed period of 60
months under Section 824.402(a)(3), Government Code; or
(E) an alternate payee annuity payment under
Section 804.005, Government Code.
(f) The supplemental payment is in addition to the
guaranteed number of payments under Section 824.204(c)(3) or (4),
Section 824.308(c)(3) or (4), or Section 824.402(a)(3), Government
Code, and may not be counted as one of the guaranteed monthly
payments.
(g) The supplemental payment does not apply to payments
under:
(1) Section 824.304(a), Government Code, relating to
disability retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;
(2) Section 824.804(b), Government Code, relating to
participants in the deferred retirement option plan with regard to
payments from their deferred retirement option plan accounts;
(3) Section 824.501(a), Government Code, relating to
retiree survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an
amount fixed by statute; or
(4) Section 824.404(a), Government Code, relating to
active member survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity
in an amount fixed by statute.
(h) The board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System
of Texas shall determine the eligibility for and the amount and
timing of a supplemental payment and the manner in which the payment
is made.
(i) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas is required to
make a one-time supplemental payment of benefits under this section
only if the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of
Texas finds that the legislature appropriated money to the
retirement system in an amount sufficient to provide the
supplemental payment. The amount appropriated by the legislature
to provide the supplemental payment must be in addition to the
amount the state is required to contribute to the retirement system
under Section 825.404, Government Code.
(j) If the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement
System of Texas determines that the appropriation provided by the
legislature for the one-time supplemental payment of benefits under
this section is different from the amount required to issue the
supplemental payment, the comptroller, after the end of the fiscal
year, shall make adjustments in the teacher retirement fund and the
general revenue fund so that the total transfers during the year
equal the total amount of the funds required for the supplemental
payment. This transfer of funds is in addition to and separate from
the amount the state is required to contribute to the retirement
system under Section 825.404, Government Code.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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