By: Whitmire S.B. No. 523
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the firemen's relief and retirement fund in certain
1-2 municipalities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 4, Chapter 432, Acts of the 64th
1-5 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
1-6 is amended by adding Subsection (o) to read as follows:
1-7 (o) A member who retires under this Act is entitled to
1-8 receive an additional amount each month equal to $88.05, beginning
1-9 on the later of the person's retirement date or the effective date
1-10 of the 1993 amendment of this subsection. Payments of an
1-11 additional amount provided by this subsection end with the month in
1-12 which the person dies. Payments under this subsection are intended
1-13 to defray the retiree's group medical insurance costs.
1-14 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 10, Chapter 432, Acts of
1-15 the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-16 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-17 (a) The <governing body of the city shall deduct monthly a
1-18 sum equal to nine percent from the salary or compensation of each
1-19 member participating in the fund. From and after September 1,
1-20 1981, the> city shall deduct from the salary or compensation of
1-21 each member participating in the fund a sum equal to eight <7 1/2>
1-22 percent of such salary or compensation.
1-23 SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 11, Chapter 432, Acts of
1-24 the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-1 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-2 (a) If a member of a fire department who is eligible for
2-3 benefits under this Act or who is receiving retirement benefits
2-4 under this Act dies, his survivors, as described below, shall be
2-5 entitled to a continuation of his benefits pursuant to this section
2-6 and Section 7 of this Act. If the member leaves surviving a widow,
2-7 a child or children under the age of 18 years, a child who is over
2-8 the age of 18 who is totally disabled as a result of a physical or
2-9 mental illness, injury, or retardation, or a dependent parent or
2-10 parents, the board of trustees shall order paid a monthly pension
2-11 allowance. The allowance or allowances shall be calculated and
2-12 paid as follows:
2-13 (1) If a member dies and leaves surviving him both a
2-14 widow who married the member prior to his retirement or who married
2-15 the member on or after the member's retirement but at least five
2-16 years before the date of the member's death and a child or children
2-17 of the member under the age of 18 years, the board of trustees
2-18 shall order paid to the widow of the member a monthly pension
2-19 allowance equal to one-half of the amount the member would have
2-20 been entitled to receive, and in addition the board of trustees
2-21 shall order paid to the widow or other person having care and
2-22 custody of the child or children under the age of 18 years a
2-23 monthly pension allowance, for the use and benefit of the child or
2-24 children, equal to the amount provided for the widow. If the
2-25 member leaves no child under the age of 18 years surviving him or
2-26 if at any time after the death of the member no child is entitled
2-27 to allowance, then the monthly pension allowance to be paid the
3-1 widow shall be equal to the full amount the member would have been
3-2 entitled to receive.
3-3 (2)(A) If the member dies and if his widow dies after
3-4 being entitled to her allowance, or in the event that there is no
3-5 widow to receive an allowance, the amount of the monthly pension
3-6 allowance to be paid, for the use and benefit of the child or
3-7 children under the age of 18 years, to the person having the care
3-8 and custody of the child or children shall be computed as
3-9 follows: an amount equal to the full amount that the member would
3-10 have been entitled to receive shall be paid for the member's
3-11 children under the age of 18 years, except that the total monthly
3-12 pension allowance provided for children shall not exceed the amount
3-13 which the member would have been entitled to receive.
3-14 (B) If the member dies and if his widow dies
3-15 after being entitled to her allowance, or in the event that there
3-16 is no widow to receive an allowance, the amount of the monthly
3-17 pension allowance shall be extended to a child or children on proof
3-18 to the board of trustees that the child or children are unmarried,
3-19 a full-time student and between the ages of 18 and 22; the monthly
3-20 pension shall be extended only for the period of time the child
3-21 remains a full-time student; the monthly pension allowance shall be
3-22 paid directly to the child or children and shall be an amount equal
3-23 to the full amount the member would have been entitled to receive,
3-24 except that the total amount shall not exceed the amount to which
3-25 the member would have been entitled under Subdivision (1) of this
3-26 subsection.
3-27 (3) If the member dies and only if no widow or child
4-1 is entitled to an allowance under the provisions of this section, a
4-2 monthly pension allowance equal to one-half of the amount that the
4-3 member would have been entitled to receive shall be paid to each
4-4 parent of the deceased member on proof to the board of trustees
4-5 that the parent was dependent on the member immediately prior to
4-6 the death of the member, except that the total monthly pension
4-7 allowance provided for the parents shall not exceed the full amount
4-8 which the member would have been entitled to receive.
4-9 SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act to a
4-10 member's required contribution under Subsection (a), Section 10,
4-11 Chapter 432, Acts of the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2,
4-12 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), applies only to required
4-13 contributions that become due on or after September 1, 1993. A
4-14 member's required contribution that became due before that date is
4-15 governed by the law in effect at the time the contribution became
4-16 due, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose only.
4-17 (b) The change in law made by this Act in the eligibility
4-18 for benefits under Subsection (a), Section 11, Chapter 432, Acts of
4-19 the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-20 Statutes), of the surviving spouse of a person retired under that
4-21 Act applies only to benefits that become payable because of a
4-22 retiree's death that occurs on or after the effective date of this
4-23 Act.
4-24 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-2 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-3 passage, and it is so enacted.