Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 522 amends the Government Code provisions governing the Texas Municipal Retirement System. The bill authorizes a person to simultaneously be a member of the retirement system and of another state or local retirement system. A retiree who retires on a date other than December 31 may earn prorated interest on prior service credit or updated service credit for a partial year. The bill extends the option to obtain credit for prior service to higher education campus security personnel.

            The bill provides that a retiree's account valued at not more than $10,000 is payable in a lump sum. The bill authorizes a surviving spouse to leave a member's contributions on deposit until the date the member would have retired. The bill specifies that the board of trustees may allow parties to qualified domestic relations orders to receive partial lump-sum distributions. The bill gives municipalities the option to offer five-year vesting. The bill sets forth procedures for selecting optional service retirement annuities by beneficiaries, surviving spouses, surviving children, or an executor if the member dies without making such a selection or naming a beneficiary and authorizes retirees who marry after retirement to change their annuity selection.

            Finally, the bill allows the board of trustees to select an investment manager to make short-term investments and lend securities, makes certain technical changes to conform with federal Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to limitations on benefit payments, and repeals a provision relating to an optional benefit for the beneficiary of a vested employee. The bill takes effect January 1, 2002, except for provisions relating to five-year vesting, which take effect September 1, 2001.