78R9001 T
By: Pena H.B. No. 2631
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to contributions for persons eligible to participate in
the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 822, Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 822.201. MEMBER COMPENSATION. (a) Unless otherwise
provided by this subtitle, compensation subject to report and
deduction for member contributions and to credit in benefit
computations is:
(1) beginning with the 1981-82 school year, only a
member's salary and wages for service, less any amounts excluded by
rules of the board of trustees adopted pursuant to Section 825.110;
and
(2) in school years before the 1981-82 school year,
all compensation for service that was or should have been reported
under laws and rules governing the retirement system when the
compensation was paid but excluding compensation greater than
$25,000 for a school year beginning after August 31, 1969, but
before September 1, 1979, and compensation greater than $8,400 for
a school year beginning before September 1, 1969.
(b) "Salary and wages" as used in Subsection (a) means:
(1) normal periodic payments of money for service the
right to which accrues on a regular basis in proportion to the
service performed;
(2) amounts by which the member's salary is reduced
under a salary reduction agreement authorized by Chapter 610;
(3) amounts that would otherwise qualify as salary and
wages under Subdivision (1) but are not received directly by the
member pursuant to a good faith, voluntary written salary reduction
agreement in order to finance payments to a deferred compensation
or tax sheltered annuity program specifically authorized by state
law or to finance benefit options under a cafeteria plan qualifying
under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, if:
(A) the program or benefit options are made
available to all employees of the employer; and
(B) the benefit options in the cafeteria plan are
limited to one or more options that provide deferred compensation,
group health and disability insurance, group term life insurance,
dependent care assistance programs, or group legal services plans;
(4) performance pay awarded to an employee by a school
district as part of a total compensation plan approved by the board
of trustees of the district and meeting the requirements of
Subsection (e);
(5) the benefit replacement pay a person earns under
Subchapter H, Chapter 659, as added by Chapter 417, Acts of the 74th
Legislature, 1995, except as provided by Subsection (c);
(6) stipends paid to teachers in accordance with
Section 21.410 or 21.411, Education Code;
(7) amounts by which the member's salary is reduced or
that are deducted from the member's salary as authorized by
Subchapter J, Chapter 659; and
(8) a merit salary increase made under Section 51.962,
Education Code.
(c) Excluded from salary and wages are:
(1) expense payments;
(2) allowances;
(3) payments for unused vacation or sick leave;
(4) maintenance or other nonmonetary compensation;
(5) fringe benefits;
(6) deferred compensation other than as provided by
Subsection (b)(3);
(7) compensation that is not made pursuant to a valid
employment agreement;
(8) payments received by an employee in a school year
that exceed $5,000 for teaching a driver education and traffic
safety course that is conducted outside regular classroom hours;
(8) [(9)] the benefit replacement pay a person earns
as a result of a payment made under Subchapter B or C, Chapter 661;
(9) [(10)] supplemental compensation received by an
employee under Article 3. 50-8, Insurance Code; and
(10) [(11)] any compensation not described in
Subsection (b).
(d) For a person who first becomes a member of the
retirement system after August 31, 1996, the person's annual
compensation for purposes of the retirement system may not exceed
the limit imposed by Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 401(a)(17)), as adjusted by the
commissioner of internal revenue for cost-of-living increases in
accordance with that provision. This limit does not apply to a
person who first became a member of the retirement system before
September 1, 1996.
(e) For purposes of Subsection (b)(4), a total compensation
plan must:
(1) describe all elements of compensation received by
or available to all employees of the employer;
(2) provide for the availability of at least one type
of performance pay to classroom teachers employed by the employer;
(3) identify each type of performance pay, the
performance criteria for each type of performance pay, and the
classes of employees eligible for each type of performance pay;
(4) contain sufficient information concerning the
plan to ascertain the amount of each qualifying employee's pay
under the plan;
(5) contain performance criteria for earning
performance pay that preclude the exercise of discretion for
awarding the pay on any basis other than an evaluation of employee
or group performance or availability of funding; and
(6) satisfy any other requirements adopted by the
retirement system.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.