By: Whitmire S.B. No. 523
73R4926 SOS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the firemen's relief and retirement fund in certain
1-3 municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 4, Chapter 432, Acts of the 64th
1-6 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
1-7 is amended by adding Subsection (o) to read as follows:
1-8 (o) A member who retires under this Act is entitled to
1-9 receive an additional amount each month equal to $88.05, beginning
1-10 on the later of the person's retirement date or the effective date
1-11 of the 1993 amendment of this subsection. Payments of an
1-12 additional amount provided by this subsection end with the month in
1-13 which the person dies. Payments under this subsection are intended
1-14 to defray the retiree's group medical insurance costs.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 10(a), Chapter 432, Acts of the 64th
1-16 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
1-17 is amended to read as follows:
1-18 (a) The <governing body of the city shall deduct monthly a
1-19 sum equal to nine percent from the salary or compensation of each
1-20 member participating in the fund. From and after September 1,
1-21 1981, the> city shall deduct from the salary or compensation of
1-22 each member participating in the fund a sum equal to eight <7 1/2>
1-23 percent of such salary or compensation.
1-24 SECTION 3. Section 11(a), Chapter 432, Acts of the 64th
2-1 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
2-2 is amended to read as follows:
2-3 (a) If a member of a fire department who is eligible for
2-4 benefits under this Act or who is receiving retirement benefits
2-5 under this Act dies, his survivors, as described below, shall be
2-6 entitled to a continuation of his benefits pursuant to this section
2-7 and Section 7 of this Act. If the member leaves surviving a widow,
2-8 a child or children under the age of 18 years, a child who is over
2-9 the age of 18 who is totally disabled as a result of a physical or
2-10 mental illness, injury, or retardation, or a dependent parent or
2-11 parents, the board of trustees shall order paid a monthly pension
2-12 allowance. The allowance or allowances shall be calculated and
2-13 paid as follows:
2-14 (1) If a member dies and leaves surviving him both a
2-15 widow who married the member prior to his retirement or who married
2-16 the member on or after the member's retirement but at least five
2-17 years before the date of the member's death and a child or children
2-18 of the member under the age of 18 years, the board of trustees
2-19 shall order paid to the widow of the member a monthly pension
2-20 allowance equal to one-half of the amount the member would have
2-21 been entitled to receive, and in addition the board of trustees
2-22 shall order paid to the widow or other person having care and
2-23 custody of the child or children under the age of 18 years a
2-24 monthly pension allowance, for the use and benefit of the child or
2-25 children, equal to the amount provided for the widow. If the
2-26 member leaves no child under the age of 18 years surviving him or
2-27 if at any time after the death of the member no child is entitled
3-1 to allowance, then the monthly pension allowance to be paid the
3-2 widow shall be equal to the full amount the member would have been
3-3 entitled to receive.
3-4 (2)(A) If the member dies and if his widow dies after
3-5 being entitled to her allowance, or in the event that there is no
3-6 widow to receive an allowance, the amount of the monthly pension
3-7 allowance to be paid, for the use and benefit of the child or
3-8 children under the age of 18 years, to the person having the care
3-9 and custody of the child or children shall be computed as
3-10 follows: an amount equal to the full amount that the member would
3-11 have been entitled to receive shall be paid for the member's
3-12 children under the age of 18 years, except that the total monthly
3-13 pension allowance provided for children shall not exceed the amount
3-14 which the member would have been entitled to receive.
3-15 (B) If the member dies and if his widow dies
3-16 after being entitled to her allowance, or in the event that there
3-17 is no widow to receive an allowance, the amount of the monthly
3-18 pension allowance shall be extended to a child or children on proof
3-19 to the board of trustees that the child or children are unmarried,
3-20 a full-time student and between the ages of 18 and 22; the monthly
3-21 pension shall be extended only for the period of time the child
3-22 remains a full-time student; the monthly pension allowance shall be
3-23 paid directly to the child or children and shall be an amount equal
3-24 to the full amount the member would have been entitled to receive,
3-25 except that the total amount shall not exceed the amount to which
3-26 the member would have been entitled under Subdivision (1) of this
3-27 subsection.
4-1 (3) If the member dies and only if no widow or child
4-2 is entitled to an allowance under the provisions of this section, a
4-3 monthly pension allowance equal to one-half of the amount that the
4-4 member would have been entitled to receive shall be paid to each
4-5 parent of the deceased member on proof to the board of trustees
4-6 that the parent was dependent on the member immediately prior to
4-7 the death of the member, except that the total monthly pension
4-8 allowance provided for the parents shall not exceed the full amount
4-9 which the member would have been entitled to receive.
4-10 SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act to a
4-11 member's required contribution under Section 10(a), Chapter 432,
4-12 Acts of the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas
4-13 Civil Statutes), applies only to required contributions that become
4-14 due on or after September 1, 1993. A member's required
4-15 contribution that became due before that date is governed by the
4-16 law in effect at the time the contribution became due, and that law
4-17 is continued in effect for that purpose only.
4-18 (b) The change in law made by this Act in the eligibility
4-19 for benefits under Section 11(a), Chapter 432, Acts of the 64th
4-20 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6243e.2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
4-21 of the surviving spouse of a person retired under that Act applies
4-22 only to benefits that become payable because of a retiree's death
4-23 that occurs on or after the effective date of this 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.