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Senate Bill 1863 |
Senate Author: Ogden |
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Effective: See below |
House Sponsor: Pitts |
Senate Bill 1863 addresses fiscal matters involving governmental entities. Among other fee provisions, the bill increases registration fees for lobbyists other than those who represent tax-exempt organizations. It increases petroleum product delivery fees for the next fiscal biennium and makes changes to the reimbursement program that uses those fees to pay for the cleanup of contamination from petroleum storage tank leaks. The bill reduces the per-barrel fees imposed on vessels that transfer oil to or from a marine terminal, reduces the ceiling above which collection of coastal protection fund fees is halted, and reduces the floor below which fee collection is reactivated. It continues the quality assurance fees that intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded are charged. Under previous law, those fees were scheduled to expire in 2005. The bill continues the telecommunications infrastructure fund (TIF) until September 1, 2011, and repeals provisions setting a maximum on TIF assessment collections.
Health care provisions of the bill shorten the period of continuous coverage for children who are recipients of Medicaid or Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) assistance, requiring that eligibility be reestablished every six months. The bill authorizes the Health and Human Services Commission to enter into agreements with other states for joint bulk purchasing of prescription drugs for Medicaid, CHIP, and other programs. Amendments to the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act authorize incentives for state employees or retirees to opt for alternatives to state-government health coverage.
For public school employees who contribute to the retired school employees group insurance fund, administered by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), the bill increases the annual employee contribution from 0.50 percent to 0.65 percent of the employee's salary. For TRS generally, it changes the annual state contribution from eight percent to a range of six to 10 percent of the aggregate annual compensation of TRS members. (The General Appropriations Act--Senate Bill 1--establishes a 6.22 percent contribution for FY2006 and FY2007.) A temporary law from 2003, which provided that a new public school employee did not become a TRS member until the 91st day of employment, expired September 1, 2005, so that membership begins immediately with job commencement, and for individuals newly employed on or after that date, Senate Bill 1863 requires the school district or other employer, for the first 90 days of employment, to contribute an amount equal to the state contribution rate. Other provisions transfer the compensation supplementation program from TRS to the Texas Education Agency. Compensation supplementation does not begin until the 91st day of employment.
Provisions relating to the system benefit fund, which supports discounts of 10 to 20 percent on the electric bills of low-income utility customers, stipulate that if the supportive fee paid by utilities is set at the maximum 65 cents per megawatt-hour, or if the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) determines that appropriations are insufficient to fund a 10 percent discount, the PUC may reduce the discount to less than 10 percent. Other provisions of the bill transfer certain FY2006 and FY2007 receipts from the Texas Mobility Fund to the general revenue fund, increase state employee longevity and hazardous duty pay, address compensation for certain state employees returning to state government, require specified local governments to implement a program to improve the collection of criminal court costs, fees, and fines, and address interest on tax refunds, recovery of state agency overpayments, the school district existing debt allotment, and other matters. The bill takes effect August 29, 2005, except that the lobbyist registration fee increase takes effect December 1, 2005, and provisions relating to petroleum storage tanks, the TIF, the 0.65 percent public school employee contribution, the 90-day TRS contribution by employers, the compensation supplementation program, the Texas Mobility Fund, state employees, and interest on tax refunds, all take effect September 1, 2005.