Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5156 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R16066 RDR-D
2	2	By: Bryant H.B. No. 5156
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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.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is
13	13	amended by adding Sections 824.704 and 824.705 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 824.704. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT: JANUARY 2026. (a)
15	15	Notwithstanding any other section of this subchapter, the
16	16	retirement system shall make a one-time cost-of-living adjustment
17	17	payable to annuitants receiving a monthly death or retirement
18	18	benefit annuity, as provided by this section.
19	19	(b) Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), to be eligible for
20	20	the adjustment, a person must be, on the effective date of the
21	21	adjustment and disregarding any forfeiture of benefits under
22	22	Section 824.601, an annuitant eligible to receive:
23	23	(1) a standard service or disability retirement
24	24	annuity payment;
25	25	(2) an optional service or disability retirement
26	26	annuity payment as either a retiree or beneficiary;
27	27	(3) an annuity payment under Section 824.402(a)(3) or
28	28	(4);
29	29	(4) an annuity payment under Section 824.502; or
30	30	(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
31	31	804.005.
32	32	(c) If the annuitant:
33	33	(1) is a retiree, or is a beneficiary under an optional
34	34	retirement payment plan, to be eligible for the adjustment under
35	35	this section:
36	36	(A) the annuitant must be living on the effective
37	37	date of the adjustment; and
38	38	(B) the effective date of the retirement of the
39	39	member of the retirement system must have been before January 1,
40	40	2025;
41	41	(2) is a beneficiary under Section 824.402(a)(3) or
42	42	(4) or 824.502, to be eligible for the adjustment:
43	43	(A) the annuitant must be living on the effective
44	44	date of the adjustment; and
45	45	(B) the date of death of the member of the
46	46	retirement system must have been before January 1, 2025; or
47	47	(3) is an alternate payee under Section 804.005, the
48	48	annuitant is eligible for the adjustment only if the effective date
49	49	of the election to receive the annuity payment was before January 1,
50	50	2025.
51	51	(d) An adjustment made under this section does not apply to
52	52	payments under:
53	53	(1) Section 824.203(d), relating to retirees who
54	54	receive a standard service retirement annuity in an amount fixed by
55	55	statute;
56	56	(2) Section 824.304(a), relating to disability
57	57	retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;
58	58	(3) Section 824.304(b)(2), relating to disability
59	59	retirees who receive a disability annuity in an amount fixed by
60	60	statute;
61	61	(4) Section 824.404(a), relating to active member
62	62	survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an amount
63	63	fixed by statute;
64	64	(5) Section 824.501(a), relating to retiree survivor
65	65	beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an amount fixed by
66	66	statute; or
67	67	(6) Section 824.804(b), relating to participants in
68	68	the deferred retirement option plan with regard to payments from
69	69	their deferred retirement option plan accounts.
70	70	(e) An adjustment under this section must be made beginning
71	71	with an annuity payable for the month of January 2026.
72	72	(f) The amount of the adjustment provided under this section
73	73	is calculated by multiplying the amount of the monthly benefit
74	74	subject to the adjustment by six percent. The adjustment under this
75	75	section is in addition to the adjustments, if any, granted under
76	76	Section 824.702, 824.703, or 824.705 or any other law.
77	77	Sec. 824.705. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION;
78	78	ANNUAL DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the
79	79	amount of a service retirement benefit, disability retirement
80	80	benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in
81	81	accordance with this section as necessary to reflect inflation.
82	82	(b) Each year, during the last seven days of October, the
83	83	board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next
84	84	calendar year to equal the annual percentage increase, if any, in
85	85	the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
86	86	Workers (CPI-W) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
87	87	United States Department of Labor as determined by the commissioner
88	88	of social security under 42 U.S.C. Section 415(i) for purposes of
89	89	providing an annual cost-of-living increase to social security
90	90	benefit payments payable in the next calendar year.
91	91	(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the board of trustees shall
92	92	increase the amount of a benefit payable under this chapter by
93	93	applying the adjustment rate set by the board of trustees under
94	94	Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as
95	95	determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of
96	96	this chapter. The adjustment under this section is in addition to
97	97	the adjustments, if any, granted under Section 824.702, 824.703, or
98	98	824.704 or any other law.
99	99	(d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase
100	100	under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that
101	101	the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available
102	102	to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees
103	103	finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the
104	104	amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount
105	105	of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the
106	106	largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money
107	107	available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system
108	108	and shall use that rate in increasing benefits under Subsection (c)
109	109	for that calendar year.
110	110	SECTION 2. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas is
111	111	required to make a cost-of-living adjustment under Section 824.704,
112	112	Government Code, as added by this Act, only if the board of trustees
113	113	of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas finds that the
114	114	legislature appropriated money to the retirement system in an
115	115	amount sufficient to provide the payment without increasing the
116	116	unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement system. The
117	117	amount appropriated by the legislature to provide the payment must
118	118	be in addition to any amounts the state is required to contribute to
119	119	the retirement system under Subchapter E, Chapter 825, Government
120	120	Code. If the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of
121	121	Texas finds that the legislature did not appropriate money in an
122	122	amount sufficient to provide the cost-of-living adjustment without
123	123	increasing the unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement
124	124	system, the retirement system may not make the adjustment payment.
125	125	SECTION 3. Sections 824.704 and 824.705, Government Code,
126	126	as added by this Act, apply only to a monthly benefit payment made
127	127	by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1,
128	128	2026.
129	129	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.