1-1     By:  Telford (Senate Sponsor - Bivins)                 H.B. No. 336

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House March 20, 1997;

 1-3     March 24, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 1, 1997, reported favorably by the

 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 1, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the administration of retirement systems for paid or

 1-9     partly paid firefighters.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 7(f), Texas Local Fire Fighters

1-12     Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is

1-13     amended to read as follows:

1-14           (f)  The effective date of a change or addition adopted under

1-15     this section is a date specified by the board of trustees that is

1-16     not earlier than the date of adoption by the board.  A change or

1-17     addition may not be applied retroactive to its effective date

1-18     unless required to maintain a plan's tax qualification status.

1-19           SECTION 2.  Section 19(a), Texas Local Fire Fighters

1-20     Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is

1-21     amended to read as follows:

1-22           (a)  In each municipality and other political subdivision to

1-23     which this Act applies and that has a fire department that does not

1-24     consist exclusively of volunteers, the fire fighters' retirement

1-25     system is governed by a board of trustees consisting of:

1-26                 (1)  the mayor of the municipality or the mayor's

1-27     designated representative or the chief operating officer of the

1-28     political subdivision or the chief operating officer's designated

1-29     representative, as applicable;

1-30                 (2)  the chief financial officer of the municipality or

1-31     other political subdivision or, if there is no officer denominated

1-32     as chief financial officer, the person who performs the duties of

1-33     chief financial officer or a person designated by the chief

1-34     financial officer or by the person performing the duties of chief

1-35     financial officer;

1-36                 (3)  three members of the retirement system elected by

1-37     participating members as provided by Subsection (b) of this

1-38     section; and

1-39                 (4)  two persons who reside in this state in [residents

1-40     of] the municipality or other political subdivision or within the

1-41     extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality, who are not

1-42     officers or employees of the municipality or other political

1-43     subdivision, and who are elected by a majority vote of the members

1-44     of the board of trustees determined as provided by Subdivisions

1-45     (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection.

1-46           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-47     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-48     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-49     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-50     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

1-51     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

1-52     passage, and it is so enacted.

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