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House Bill 3357 |
House Author: Callegari et al. |
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Effective: See below |
Senate Sponsor: Duncan |
House Bill 3357 amends the Government Code to remove a restriction on the conditions under which a non-board member may address the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) board of trustees at a board meeting from a remote location by telephone conference call.
House Bill 3357 makes provisions relating to a retiree's revocation of a designation of a beneficiary to receive the retiree's selected optional TRS service or disability retirement annuity on the retiree's death applicable instead to a change in the retiree's selection of that annuity reverting back to the standard service or disability retirement annuity, as applicable, rather than to a revocation of the beneficiary designation, provided the retiree has received at least one payment under the plan previously selected. The bill establishes that the change cancels a beneficiary designation only with respect to the optional annuity benefit but not with respect to any other TRS benefit payable on the retiree's death. The bill also clarifies the circumstances under which a former spouse of a TRS retiree who is the retiree's designated beneficiary under an optional retirement annuity must give written, notarized consent to change the designated beneficiary for the benefits payable after the retiree's death.
House Bill 3357 opens membership on the TRS board of trustees to both currently active and retired charter school and regional service center employees by including such TRS members in the nomination process, both as potential nominees and as voters in the selection of the two slates of nominees from which the governor appoints members to the board to represent the interests of active and retired TRS members, respectively.
House Bill 3357 authorizes the board or its audit committee to conduct a closed meeting with TRS's internal or external auditors to discuss certain specified matters and, under certain conditions, authorizes the board to conduct a closed meeting with TRS staff, consultants, or legal counsel or with a third party regarding procurement matters but requires the board to vote or take final action on the procurement in an open meeting.
House Bill 3357 exempts the medical board appointed by the TRS board of trustees from being subpoenaed regarding findings the medical board makes in assisting the TRS executive director or the TRS board and grants members of the medical board immunity from liability for any opinions, conclusions, or recommendations lawfully made.
House Bill 3357 removes provisions requiring the TRS board to enforce an ethics policy for TRS employees, consultants, and advisors and requiring disclosures on the part of TRS employees with decision-making or fiduciary authority and repeals provisions relating to required disclosures from and restrictions on TRS employees, consultants, and advisors with potential conflicts of interests. The bill instead requires the board to adopt a code or codes of ethics applicable to trustees, employees, and any contractors or any categories of contractors providing advice or opinions that form the basis for decisions or action made by or on behalf of TRS or providing services relating to TRS administration or operations.
House Bill 3357 repeals a provision requiring the legislature to appropriate a specified amount from the general revenue fund to pay TRS operating expenses for each fiscal year and provisions authorizing a contributing member to establish or reestablish service creditable in TRS by making payroll reduction payments in lieu of lump-sum payments otherwise authorized or required and makes conforming changes to reflect those repeals. The bill also repeals provisions relating to the TRS board's authorization regarding increases in the rate of member contributions and to restrictions on the making of supplemental payment based on findings of an adverse effect on the amortization period for the system's unfunded actuarial liabilities.
House Bill 3357 expands the confidentiality provisions that protect the records of a TRS member, retiree, annuitant, beneficiary, or alternate payee that are in the custody either of TRS or of another entity acting for or with TRS from public disclosure to include information about those records as well as the records themselves and to include such records and information in the custody of the comptroller of public accounts within that protection. The bill also includes records and information regarding an employee or contractor of an employer covered by TRS for whom records were received by TRS for certain administrative purposes.
House Bill 3357 amends the Insurance Code to raise from 25 years of age to 26 years of age the age below which a child qualifies as a dependent for purposes of the Texas Public School Retired Employees Group Benefits Act and the Texas School Employees Uniform Group Health Coverage Act and to remove the condition that the child be an unmarried child.
House Bill 3357 conditions the authorization for TRS to spend a part of the money received for the Texas Public School Employees Group Insurance Program to offset a part of the costs for optional coverage paid by the retirees on a projection that the group program will remain financially solvent during the currently funded biennium, rather than on a projection that the expenditure will not reduce the period of solvency by more than one year in the biennium.
House Bill 3357 amends the Education Code to authorize a school district to contract with another district or an open-enrollment charter holder for services at a campus charter and makes a district or charter holder employee providing those services eligible for TRS membership and benefits if the employee would be eligible for membership and benefits by virtue of holding the same position at the employing district or open-enrollment charter school. The bill also requires an employee of a charter holder who is employed on a campus or in a program granted a charter and who qualifies for TRS membership to be covered under TRS in the same manner and to the same extent as a qualified employee of an independent school district who is employed on a regularly operating campus or in a regularly operating program.
House Bill 3357 takes effect June 14, 2013, except for provisions relating to changing a selection from an optional annuity to a standard annuity and to the circumstances under which a former spouse who has been designated as beneficiary must give written notarized consent to a change in that designation, which take effect September 1, 2013.