Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 601 authorizes the board of a municipal pension system in a city with a population of 1.5 million or more to enter into a written agreement with the city regarding the pension system's benefits and issues relating to it. The bill requires any such agreement, enforceable against and binding on the city and the pension system's participants and beneficiaries, to be approved by both the board and the city's governing body and to be signed by the mayor and either the pension board or the board's designee. The bill allows a pension benefit or allowance provided under such an agreement to be increased if (1) a qualified actuary chosen by the board has determined it will not jeopardize the pension system's ability to pay existing benefits; (2) it is approved in writing by the board and the city; and (3) it does not deprive any members or retirees, without their consent, of benefits for which they were eligible before the increase. The bill changes the composition of the board by reducing from three to one the number of trustees appointed to represent the general public, requiring an appointed trustee to be a resident of Texas, rather than the city, for the three years preceding the initial appointment, and removing the requirement for an appointed trustee to be a registered voter in the city. The bill authorizes the elected members of the board, rather than the city, to appoint, reappoint, remove, or replace an appointed trustee, and requires a majority vote of the board's elected trustees for these actions. The bill limits the terms of the current appointed trustees to the effective date of this bill, and requires the board no later than October 1, 2003, to appoint or reappoint a trustee who meets the requirements established by these provisions, with that term to expire in January 2004.