89R21893 RDR-D
By: Ashby, Bumgarner H.B. No. 4945
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a study by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on the
feasibility of offering alternative service retirement benefits to
certain members of the retirement system engaged in wildland
firefighting or employed in positions related to wildland
firefighting.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 825, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 825.1086 to read as follows:
Sec. 825.1086. STUDY AND REPORT ON ALTERNATIVE SERVICE
RETIREMENT BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS AND RELATED
EMPLOYEES. (a) The retirement system shall conduct a study on the
feasibility of offering members who are Texas A&M Forest Service
wildland firefighters and are employed in positions related to
wildland firefighting alternative service retirement benefits
under the system.
(b) In conducting the study, the retirement system shall
assess the costs to and impact on the retirement system associated
with offering members described by Subsection (a) the following
alternative service retirement benefits:
(1) a service retirement benefit under the existing
benefit plan that provides retirement eligibility and a
supplemental benefit under Subsection (c) within a new tier, to be
named Hazardous Duty, for:
(A) a member who is at least 55 years old and who
has at least 10 years of service credit as a wildland firefighter;
(B) a member who has at least 25 years of service
credit as a wildland firefighter, regardless of age; or
(C) a member who has at least 20 years of service
credit as a wildland firefighter, except that the member's service
retirement annuity will be actuarially reduced by five percent for
every year of difference between the member's age at retirement and
the normal retirement age within this tier; and
(2) a service retirement benefit under the existing
plan that provides retirement eligibility and a supplemental
benefit under Subsection (c), as applicable, within a new tier, to
be named Hazardous Duty-Administrative Support, for:
(A) a member who is vested in the retirement
system and who has been employed as a wildland firefighter during
the entirety of the member's employment with the Texas A&M Forest
Service; or
(B) a member who has service credit as a wildland
firefighter equal to at least the minimum number of years of service
credit required to vest in the system and who is employed in a
position that provides support services to wildland firefighters on
the member's retirement date.
(c) The standard service retirement annuity for a member who
is eligible to retire under a proposal described by Subsection
(b)(1) or (b)(2)(A) would be an amount computed on the basis of the
member's average annual compensation for the five years of service,
whether or not consecutive, in which the member received the
highest annual compensation, times the sum of the percentage factor
used in the computation of a standard service retirement annuity
under Section 824.203(a) plus 0.5 percent.
(d) The standard service retirement annuity for a member who
is eligible to retire under a proposal described by Subsection
(b)(2)(B) based on the age and service requirements described in
Subsection (b)(1) is the standard service retirement annuity
described by Subsection (c), provided the member is not entitled to
the additional 0.5 percent described by Subsection (c).
(e) Not later than March 1, 2026, the retirement system
shall begin coordinating with the Texas A&M Forest Service to
determine:
(1) positions that will qualify for benefits proposed
by Subsection (b) and the salaries of both existing and terminated
employees who accrued service credit for service provided on or
after September 1, 2009, and who would be eligible to retire under
any of the requirements proposed by Subsection (b) based on that
service credit;
(2) the effectiveness of using either the standard
service retirement annuity calculation under Section 824.203 plus
0.5 percent or a different annuity calculation that would provide
similar or more benefits than the calculation under Section 824.203
for a member who would be eligible to retire under any of the
requirements proposed by Subsection (b)(1) while maintaining the
actuarial soundness of the retirement system;
(3) the additional percentage of salary contribution
needed by both the employer and employee to provide for the
alternative retirement benefits proposed by Subsection (b) while
maintaining the actuarial soundness of the retirement system;
(4) the cost computed as additional employer and
employee contributions to provide the alternative retirement
benefits proposed by Subsection (b) attributable to service credit
described by that subsection for service performed on or after
September 1, 2009; and
(5) the cost and implications of the minimum age or
service credit requirements proposed by Subsection (b) to the
extent those age or service credit requirements are less stringent
than the minimum age or service credit requirements provided by
this subtitle.
(f) Not later than December 31, 2026, the retirement system
shall prepare and submit a report to the legislature that contains
the findings of the study and the determinations required by
Subsection (e).
(g) The Legislative Budget Board and the State Pension
Review Board shall, as necessary:
(1) assist the retirement system in conducting the
study; and
(2) provide the retirement system with any information
needed to complete the report required by Subsection (f).
(h) This section expires September 1, 2027.
SECTION 2. 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, 2025.