1-1     By:  Greenberg (Senate Sponsor - Lindsay)             H.B. No. 2522
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 1999;
 1-3     April 20, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 14, 1999, reported adversely, with
 1-5     favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays
 1-6     0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2522                   By:  Ellis
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the administration of retirement systems for paid,
1-11     partly paid, or volunteer firefighters.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Section 18(a), Texas Local Fire Fighters
1-14     Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-15     amended to read as follows:
1-16           (a)  A board of trustees established under this Act may
1-17     receive, handle, control, manage, and disburse the fund for the
1-18     retirement system, hear and determine all applications for
1-19     retirement and claims for disability, either partial or total, and
1-20     designate beneficiaries and participants as provided by this Act.
1-21     The chairman and vice chairman of a board may swear witnesses for
1-22     the purpose of taking testimony before the board on any matter
1-23     related to the fund.  A board may issue a subpoena addressed to a
1-24     sheriff or constable to require the attendance of a witness or the
1-25     production of books, records, or other documents that may be
1-26     necessary and proper for the purposes of a proceeding before the
1-27     board.
1-28           SECTION 2.  The Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act
1-29     (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding
1-30     Section 18A to read as follows:
1-31           Sec. 18A.  ENFORCEMENT OF ACT.  (a)  If a board of trustees
1-32     fails or refuses to comply with an applicable requirement of this
1-33     Act, the fire fighters' pension commissioner may issue a subpoena
1-34     addressed to a sheriff' or constable to require the production of
1-35     books, records, or other documents that may be necessary to provide
1-36     or determine compliance.
1-37           (b)  The attorney general shall represent the fire fighters'
1-38     pension commissioner in the enforcement of this Act and may file an
1-39     appropriate pleading or action in a district court in Travis County
1-40     to enforce a subpoena or secure a writ of mandamus to compel
1-41     compliance with this Act.
1-42           SECTION 3.  Section 25, Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement
1-43     Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
1-44     read as follows:
1-45           Sec. 25.  OTHER EXPENSES.  (a)  Except as provided by
1-46     Subsection (b) [(c)] of this section, a board of trustees
1-47     established under this Act may pay from assets of the fund all
1-48     [the] costs reasonably and lawfully [of legal fees and medical
1-49     fees] incurred by the retirement system and the costs of actual
1-50     [and necessary] expenses incurred by board members in the
1-51     performance of their duties on the board.  A member of the board
1-52     may not receive compensation for service on the board.
1-53           (b)  [Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section, a
1-54     board of trustees may make payments from the fund for expenses in
1-55     addition to those described by Subsection (a) of this section, if
1-56     the expenses are first approved by a majority of the participating
1-57     members of the retirement system voting by secret ballot at an
1-58     election at which at least 50 percent of the participating members
1-59     vote.]
1-60           [(c)]  The annual amount of payments from a fund under
1-61     [Subsections (a) and (b) of] this section, excluding legal and
1-62     medical fees, may not exceed:
1-63                 (1)  1 percent of the book value of the assets of the
1-64     fund for the first $1 million in book value; and
 2-1                 (2)  1/4 of 1 percent of the book value of the assets
 2-2     of the fund that exceeds $1 million.
 2-3           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-4     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-5     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-6     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-7     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 2-8     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 2-9     passage, and it is so enacted.
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