SRC-LBB S.B. 1560 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 1560
By: Madla
State Affairs
3/31/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, certain large public retirement systems have adequate
procedures in place to verify annuity payments are correct.  However,
smaller public retirement systems and independent pension funds of
firefighters and police officers do not.  As a result, errors are
sometimes made and remain undiscovered until years later.  As proposed,
S.B. 1560 sets a three-year limit on reimbursement sought from recipients
of public retirement systems and firefighter and police officer pension
funds, with the exclusion of cases of fraud and prior agreements. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 802, Subchapter B, Government Code,  by adding
Section 802.1024, as follows: 

Sec. 802.1024.  CORRECTION OF ERRORS.  (a)  Requires the governing body of
a public retirement system to correct an error in the records of that
system that results in a person receiving more or less money than the
person is entitled to receive under this subtitle, and so far as
practicable to adjust any future payments so that the actuarial equivalent
of the benefit to which the person is entitled is paid, except as provided
by Subsection (b).  Authorizes the governing body of the retirement system
to recover the overpayment in any manner that would be permitted for the
collection of any other debt, if no future payments are due. 

(b)  Authorizes a public retirement system, except as provided by
Subsection (c), to correct the overpayment of benefits to a person
entitled to receive payments from the system by the method described by
Subsection (a) only for an overpayment made during the three years
preceding the date the governing body of the system discovers or
discovered the overpayment and prohibits recovering from the recipient any
overpayment made more than three years before the discovery of the
overpayment. 

(c)  Provides that Subsection (b) does not apply to an overpayment a
reasonable person should know the person is not entitled to receive. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 12(b), Chapter 451, Acts of the 72nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1991 (Article 6243n, V.T.C.S.), to provide
an exception. 
 
SECTION 3.  Amends Section 10.02, Chapter 452, Acts of the 72nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1991 (Article 6243n-1, V.T.C.S.), to make a
conforming change. 

SECTION 4.  Amends Section 3.03(d), Chapter 824, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993 (Article 6243o, V.T.C.S.), to make a
conforming change. 

SECTION 5.  Provides that this Act applies to an underpayment or
overpayment of benefits by a public retirement system made by the
governing body of the system regardless of whether the  underpayment or
overpayment was made before the effective date of this Act, except that it
does not apply to an overpayment that has been resolved by agreement made
before the effective date of this Act between the governing body of a
public retirement system and the recipient of the overpayment. 

SECTION 6.  Effective date:  upon passage or September 1, 2003.