Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3857 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R10760 RDR-D
2	2	By: Bucy H.B. No. 3857
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to cost-of-living adjustments applicable to certain
10	10	benefits paid by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and a
11	11	biennial study on providing additional cost-of-living adjustments
12	12	based on the effects of increased inflation.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is
15	15	amended by adding Section 824.704 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 824.704. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION;
17	17	BIENNIAL DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the
18	18	amount of a service retirement benefit, disability retirement
19	19	benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in
20	20	accordance with this section as necessary to reflect inflation.
21	21	(b) During the last seven days of October of each
22	22	odd-numbered year, the board of trustees shall set the rate of the
23	23	adjustment that will apply to the following two calendar years
24	24	based on the sum of each annual percentage increase, if any, in the
25	25	current year and the previous year in the Consumer Price Index for
26	26	Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) published by the
27	27	Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
28	28	as determined by the commissioner of social security under 42
29	29	U.S.C. Section 415(i) for purposes of providing an annual
30	30	cost-of-living increase to social security benefit payments
31	31	payable in the next calendar year.
32	32	(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the board of trustees shall
33	33	increase the amount of a benefit payable under this chapter by
34	34	applying the adjustment rate set by the board of trustees under
35	35	Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as
36	36	determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of
37	37	this chapter.
38	38	(d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase
39	39	under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that
40	40	the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available
41	41	to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees
42	42	finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the
43	43	amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount
44	44	of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the
45	45	largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money
46	46	available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system
47	47	and shall use that rate in increasing benefits under Subsection (c)
48	48	for that calendar year.
49	49	(e) The board of trustees by rule shall define "actuarially
50	50	sound" for purposes of this section.
51	51	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 825, Government Code, is
52	52	amended by adding Section 825.1086 to read as follows:
53	53	Sec. 825.1086. BIENNIAL STUDY AND REPORT ON PROVIDING
54	54	ADDITIONAL COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON EFFECTS OF
55	55	INFLATION. Not later than January 1 of each even-numbered year, the
56	56	retirement system shall:
57	57	(1) conduct a study to evaluate and identify the
58	58	effects, if any, that increased inflation has had on annuitants of
59	59	the system:
60	60	(A) during the preceding state fiscal biennium;
61	61	and
62	62	(B) unless the annuitants received a
63	63	cost-of-living adjustment in the preceding fiscal year, since
64	64	annuitants last received a cost-of-living adjustment; and
65	65	(2) submit a written report to the legislature
66	66	containing:
67	67	(A) findings of the study; and
68	68	(B) if appropriate, recommendations for
69	69	potential legislation to address any adverse effects of inflation
70	70	identified under Subdivision (1), including specific
71	71	recommendations regarding whether and in what amount the
72	72	legislature would need to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to
73	73	the benefits of annuitants to remedy those effects.
74	74	SECTION 3. Section 824.704, Government Code, as added by
75	75	this Act, applies only to a benefit paid by the Teacher Retirement
76	76	System of Texas on or after January 1, 2026.
77	77	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
78	78	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
79	79	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
80	80	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
81	81	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.