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79S10637 DLF-F
By: Duncan S.B. No. 8
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain retired and retirement-eligible education
employees; making appropriations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.4031 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.4031. SALARY SUPPLEMENT FOR CERTAIN
RETIREMENT-ELIGIBLE CLASSROOM TEACHERS. (a) The amounts specified
by this section are in addition to amounts to which a classroom
teacher is entitled under Section 21.402.
(b) A classroom teacher, other than an employed retiree
reported as described by Section 825.4092, Government Code, is
entitled to an annual salary supplement equal to:
(1) $1,000 for a year in which the sum of the teacher's
age and years of service credit in the Teacher Retirement System of
Texas equals at least 80 but less than 85;
(2) $2,000 for a year in which the sum of the teacher's
age and years of service credit in the Teacher Retirement System of
Texas equals at least 85 but less than 90;
(3) $3,000 for a year in which the sum of the teacher's
age and years of service credit in the Teacher Retirement System of
Texas equals at least 90 but less than 95; and
(4) $4,000 for a year in which the sum of the teacher's
age and years of service credit in the Teacher Retirement System of
Texas equals at least 95.
(c) If a person is entitled to a salary supplement under a
provision of Subsection (b) for only part of a year, the amount of
the salary supplement shall be prorated accordingly.
(d) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, at the request
of the agency, shall provide the agency information and assistance
necessary to determine a person's eligibility for a salary
supplement under this section.
(e) A school district is entitled to state funds in an
amount equal to the sum of the salary supplements to which classroom
teachers employed by the district are entitled under this section.
Funding a school district receives under this section is in
addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42. The
commissioner shall distribute funds under this section with the
Foundation School Program payment to which the district is entitled
as soon as practicable after the end of the school year as
determined by the commissioner. A district to which Chapter 41
applies is entitled to funding under this section. The
commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
funds to a district that does not receive Foundation School Program
payments.
SECTION 2. Sections 824.202(a-1), (b-1), and (d-1),
Government Code, as added by S.B. No. 1691, Acts of the 79th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, effective September 1, 2005,
are amended to read as follows:
(a-1) [This subsection applies only to a person who becomes
a member of the retirement system on or after September 1, 2006.] A
member [subject to this subsection] is eligible to retire and
receive a standard service retirement annuity if:
(1) the member is at least 65 years old and has at
least five years of service credit in the retirement system; or
(2) the member is at least 60 years old and has at
least five years of service credit in the retirement system and the
sum of the member's age and amount of service credit in the
retirement system equals the number 80.
(b-1) [This subsection applies only to a person who becomes
a member of the retirement system on or after September 1, 2006.]
If a member [subject to this subsection] is at least 55 years old
and has at least five years of service credit in the retirement
system, but does not meet the requirements under Subsection (d-1),
the member is eligible to retire and receive a service retirement
annuity reduced from the standard service retirement annuity
available under Subsection (a-1)(1), to a percentage derived from
the following table:Age at date of retirement 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
Percentage of standard annuity receivable 47% 51% 55% 59% 63% 67% 73% 80% 87% 93% 100%
(d-1) [This subsection applies only to a person who becomes
a member of the retirement system on or after September 1, 2007.]
If the sum of the member's age and amount of service credit in the
retirement system equals the number 80, with at least five years of
service credit, or if the member has at least 30 years of service
credit in the retirement system, the member is eligible to retire
regardless of age and receive a service retirement annuity, reduced
from the standard service retirement annuity available under
Subsection (a-1)(2) [(a)(2)], to a percentage derived from the
following table: Age at date of retirement 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Percentage of standard annuity receivable 70% 73% 76% 79% 82% 85% 88% 91% 94% 97% 100%
five] percent less than the percentage for age 50 with 30 years of
service credit.
SECTION 3. Section 824.405, Government Code, as amended by
S.B. No. 1691, Acts of the 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005,
effective September 1, 2005, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 824.405. TABLES FOR DETERMINATION OF DEATH BENEFIT
ANNUITY. For the purpose of computing a death benefit annuity under
Section 824.402(a)(4) or Section 824.403, the board of trustees
shall extend the tables:
(1) in Section 824.202(b-1) [824.202(b) or (b-1), as
applicable,] to ages earlier than 55 years by actuarially reducing
the benefit available at the age of 55 years to the actuarial
equivalent at the attained age of the beneficiary; and
(2) in Section 824.202(d-1) [824.202(b) or (d-1), as
applicable,] to ages earlier than the earliest retirement age by
actuarially reducing the benefit available at the earliest
retirement age to the actuarial equivalent at the attained age of
the beneficiary.
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 824.602, Government
Code, as amended by S.B. No. 1691, Acts of the 79th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2005, effective September 1, 2005, and S.B. No.
132, Acts of the 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, effective
June 17, 2005, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Subject to Section 825.506, the retirement system may
not, under Section 824.601, withhold a monthly benefit payment if
the retiree is employed in a Texas public educational institution:
(1) as a substitute only with pay not more than the
daily rate of substitute pay established by the employer and, if the
retiree is a disability retiree, the employment has not exceeded a
total of 90 days in the school year;
(2) in a position, other than as a substitute, on no
more than a one-half time basis for the month;
(3) in one or more positions on as much as a full-time
basis, if the work occurs in not more than six months of a school
year that begins after the retiree's effective date of retirement;
(4) in a position, other than as a substitute, on no
more than a one-half time basis for no more than 90 days in the
school year, if the retiree is a disability retiree;
(5) in a position as a classroom teacher on as much as
a full-time basis, if the retiree has retired under Section
824.202(a-1) [824.202(a) or (a-1)], is certified under Subchapter
B, Chapter 21, Education Code, to teach the subjects assigned, is
teaching in an acute shortage area as determined by the board of
trustees of a school district as provided by Subsection (m), and has
been separated from service with all public schools for at least 12
months;
(6) in a position as a principal, including as an
assistant principal, on as much as a full-time basis, if the retiree
has retired under Section 824.202(a-1) [824.202(a) or (a-1)]
without reduction for retirement at an early age, is certified
under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, to serve as a
principal, and has been separated from service with all public
schools for at least 12 months;
(7) as a bus driver for a school district on as much as
a full-time basis, if the retiree has retired under Section
824.202(a-1) [824.202(a) or (a-1)], and the retiree's primary
employment is as a bus driver; or
(8) as a faculty member, during the period beginning
with the 2005 fall semester and ending on the last day of the 2015
spring semester, in an undergraduate professional nursing program
or graduate professional nursing program, as defined by Section
54.221, Education Code, and if the retiree has been separated from
service with all public schools for at least 12 months.
SECTION 5. Sections 824.202(a), (b), and (d), Government
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 6. (a) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas
shall make a one-time supplemental payment of a retirement or death
benefit, as provided by this section.
(b) The supplemental payment is payable in January 2006 and,
to the extent practicable, on a date or dates that coincide with the
regular annuity payment payable to each eligible annuitant.
(c) The amount of the supplemental payment is equal to the
gross amount of the regular annuity payment to which the eligible
annuitant is otherwise entitled for the month of December 2005 and
is payable in January 2006, without regard to any forfeiture of
benefits under Section 824.602, Government Code. The Teacher
Retirement System of Texas shall make applicable tax withholding
and other legally required deductions before disbursing the
supplemental payment. The supplemental payment under this section
is in addition to and not in lieu of the regular monthly annuity
payment to which the eligible annuitant is otherwise entitled.
(d) Subject to Subsection (e) of this section, to be
eligible for the supplemental payment, a person must be, for the
month of December 2005, and disregarding any forfeiture of monthly
benefits under Section 824.602, Government Code, an annuitant
eligible to receive:
(1) a standard retirement annuity payment;
(2) an optional retirement annuity payment as either a
retiree or beneficiary;
(3) a life annuity payment under Section
824.402(a)(4), Government Code;
(4) an annuity for a guaranteed period of 60 months
under Section 824.402(a)(3), Government Code; or
(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
804.005, Government Code.
(e) If the annuitant is a retiree or a beneficiary under an
optional retirement payment plan, to be eligible for the
supplemental payment, the effective date of the retirement of the
member of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas must have been
before September 1, 2003. If the annuitant is a beneficiary under
Section 824.402(a)(3) or (4), Government Code, to be eligible for
the supplemental payment, the date of death of the member of the
retirement system must have been before September 1, 2003. The
supplemental payment shall be made to an alternate payee who is an
annuitant under Section 804.005, Government Code, only if the
annuity payments to the alternate payee commenced before September
1, 2003. The supplemental payment is in addition to the guaranteed
number of payments under Section 824.402(a)(3) or 824.204(c)(3) or
(4), Government Code, and may not be counted as one of the
guaranteed monthly payments.
(f) The supplemental payment does not apply to payments
under:
(1) Section 824.304(a), Government Code, relating to
disability retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;
(2) Section 824.804(b), Government Code, relating to
participants in the deferred retirement option plan with regard to
payments from their deferred retirement option plan accounts;
(3) Section 824.501(a), Government Code, relating to
retiree survivor beneficiaries receiving a survivor annuity in an
amount fixed by statute; or
(4) Section 824.404(a), Government Code, relating to
active member survivor beneficiaries receiving a survivor annuity
in an amount fixed by statute.
(g) Except as provided by this section, the board of
trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall determine
the eligibility for and the amount and timing of a supplemental
payment and the manner in which the payment is made.
(h) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall pay the
supplemental payment made under this section from the retired
reserve account and may transfer to that account from the state
contribution account any portion of the amount that exceeds the
amount in the retired reserve account available to finance the
supplemental payment and that is actuarially determined to be
necessary to finance the supplemental payment. The supplemental
payment under this section must comply with Section 821.006,
Government Code.
SECTION 7. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Sections 824.202, 824.405, and 824.602, Government Code, apply only
to a person who retires under the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
on or after the effective date of this Act, unless the person meets
one of the requirements of Subsection (b) of this section. A person
who retires under the Teacher Retirement System of Texas before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed
immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
(b) A person who retires under the Teacher Retirement System
of Texas on or after the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law as it existed immediately before that date, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose if:
(1) on or before August 31, 2005, the person meets one
or more of the following requirements:
(A) the person has attained age 50;
(B) the sum of the person's age and amount of
service credit in the retirement system equals 70 or greater; or
(C) the person has at least 25 years of service
credit in the retirement system; or
(2) on or before September 1, 2010, the sum of the
person's age and amount of service credit in the retirement system
equals the number 80.
(c) Only service actually credited in the Teacher
Retirement System of Texas on or before August 31, 2005, may be used
to determine eligibility under Paragraphs (B) and (C), Subdivision
(1), Subsection (b) of this section. Service credit established
only after completion of additional payments under an installment
agreement after August 31, 2005, may not be considered to be
actually credited for the purpose of Paragraphs (B) and (C),
Subdivision (1), Subsection (b) of this section.
SECTION 8. (a) In addition to the estimated amounts
appropriated under Strategies A.1.1 and A.1.2 of the appropriations
to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas by S.B. No. 1, Acts of the
79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005 (the General
Appropriations Act), an estimated $57 million is appropriated from
the general revenue fund to the system to fund the retirement
contributions described by those strategies for the state fiscal
biennium beginning September 1, 2005, at the rate of 6.12 percent of
payroll for each fiscal year.
(b) This section applies notwithstanding the rate specified
in Rider 4, page III-33, S.B. No. 1, Acts of the 79th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2005 (the General Appropriations Act).
SECTION 9. In addition to other amounts appropriated by
other acts of the 79th Legislature, $35 million is appropriated
from the general revenue fund to the Texas Education Agency for the
fiscal year beginning September 1, 2006, to fund the salary
supplement authorized by Section 21.4031, Education Code, as added
by this Act.
SECTION 10. Section 21.4031, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2006-2007 school year.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005, if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for effect on that
date, this Act takes effect November 1, 2005.