80R9285 DLF-F
 
  By: Duncan S.B. No. 1846
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to funding for, and benefits provided under, the Teacher
Retirement System of Texas.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 824, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 824.009 to read as follows:
       Sec. 824.009.  BENEFIT INCREASE.  (a)  The amount of a
service retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or
death benefit paid under this chapter may be increased only to the
extent authorized by the General Appropriations Act applicable to
the fiscal biennium in which the increase is paid.
       (b)  An increase made as provided by this section is subject
to Section 821.006.
       SECTION 2.  Section 824.2031, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
       (c)  An improvement in the plan of benefits is subject to
Section 824.009.
       SECTION 3.  Section 825.308, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 825.308.  STATE CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNT.  The retirement
system shall deposit in the state contribution account:
             (1)  all state contributions to the retirement system
required by Section 825.404;
             (2)  amounts from the interest account as provided by
Section 825.313(b)(2);
             (3)  retirement annuities waived or forfeited in
accordance with Section 824.601 or 824.004;
             (4)  fees collected under Section 825.403(h);
             (5)  fees and interest for reinstatement of service
credit or establishment of membership service credit as provided by
Section 823.501;
             (6)  the portion of a deposit required by Section
823.302 to establish military service credit that represents a fee;
             (7)  contributions collected by employers from federal
or private sources under Section 825.406;
             (8)  contributions collected by a general academic
teaching institution or a medical and dental unit under Section
825.407; and
             (9) [(7)]  employer contributions required under
Sections 825.4042 and [Section] 825.4092.
       SECTION 4.  Section 825.402, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 825.402.  RATE OF MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS.  (a) The rate
of contributions for each member of the retirement system is:
             (1)  five percent of the member's annual compensation
or $180, whichever is less, for service rendered after August 31,
1937, and before September 1, 1957;
             (2)  six percent of the first $8,400 of the member's
annual compensation for service rendered after August 31, 1957, and
before September 1, 1969;
             (3)  six percent of the member's annual compensation
for service rendered after August 31, 1969, and before the first day
of the 1977-78 school year;
             (4)  6.65 percent of the member's annual compensation
for service rendered after the last day of the period described by
Subdivision (3) and before September 1, 1985; and
             (5)  6.4 percent of the member's annual compensation
for service rendered after August 31, 1985, subject to Subsection
(b).
       (b)  The rate of contributions for each member of the
retirement system may be increased to not more than 6.6 percent of
the member's annual compensation as directed by the General
Appropriations Act to ensure the actuarial soundness of the
retirement system.  An increase made under this subsection applies
to annual compensation received for service rendered during the
school years that correspond to the fiscal biennium to which the
General Appropriations Act requiring the increase applies or a
shorter period specified by that Act. An increase may not be
required under this subsection to fund a benefit increase described
by Section 824.009.
       SECTION 5.  Section 825.404(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
       (a)  During each fiscal year, the state shall contribute to
the retirement system an amount equal to at least six and not more
than 10 percent of the aggregate annual compensation of all members
of the retirement system during that fiscal year.  The amount of the
state contribution made under this section may not be less than the
amount contributed by members during that fiscal year in accordance
with Section 825.402.
       SECTION 6.  The heading to Section 825.4041, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 825.4041.  EMPLOYER PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN NEW MEMBERS.  
       SECTION 7.  Subchapter E, Chapter 825, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 825.4042 to read as follows:
       Sec. 825.4042.  EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS.  (a)  During each
fiscal year, an employer shall contribute to the retirement system
an amount specified in the General Appropriations Act, which may
not be less than .25 percent or greater than .75 percent of the
aggregate annual compensation of contributing members of the
retirement system employed by that employer during that fiscal
year.
       (b)  An employer shall make the contributions required by
this section in 12 monthly payments and as required by the board of
trustees.
       (c)  A contribution made under this section is in addition to
other employer contributions required by this subchapter.
       (d)  An employer may deduct from the amount of the
contribution required under this section the amount of matching
contributions that are:
             (1)  made for contributing employees by the employer
under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (26 U.S.C. Chapter
21); and
             (2)  paid by the employer from money other than money
appropriated by the state.
       (e)  Contributions made by employers under this section do
not affect the minimum state contribution required by Section
825.404(a).
       (f)  Contributions under this section are subject to the
requirements of Section 825.408.
       SECTION 8.  Section 825.406(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
        (b)  When an employer receives money for state contributions
from an application made in accordance with Subsection (a), the
employer shall immediately send the money to the retirement system
for deposit in the state contribution account [general revenue fund
of the state treasury].
       SECTION 9.  Section 825.407(g), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
       (g)  The retirement system shall deposit [submit] all money
it receives under this section in the state contribution account
[to the comptroller of public accounts for deposit in the general
revenue fund].
       SECTION 10.  Section 825.4092(e), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (e)  The amounts required to be paid under Subsections (b)
and (c) are not required to be paid by a reporting employer for a
retiree who retired from [was reported under] the retirement system
[rules in effect for the report month of January 2005 by:
             [(1)that reporting employer; or
             [(2)  another employer, if both employers are school
districts that consolidated into a consolidated school district on
or] before September 1, 2005.
       SECTION 11.  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 12.  Section 1575.204(b), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
       (b)  Each state fiscal year, each employer who reports to the
retirement system under Section 824.6022, Government Code, the
employment of a retiree who is enrolled in the group program shall
contribute to the fund the difference, if any, between the
contribution amount that the reported retiree is required to pay
for the retiree and any enrolled dependents to participate in the
group program and the full cost of the retiree's and enrolled
dependents' participation in the group program, as determined by
the trustee. The amounts required to be paid under this subsection
are not required to be paid by a reporting employer for a retiree
who retired from the [was reported by that employer under]
retirement system before September 1, [rules in effect for the
report month of January] 2005.
       SECTION 13.  Section 1575.252, Insurance Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 1575.252.  APPLICATION BY EMPLOYER FOR MONEY TO PAY
STATE CONTRIBUTIONS.  An employer who applies for money provided by
the United States or a privately sponsored source shall:
             (1)  if any of the money will pay part or all of an
active employee's salary, also apply for any legally available
money to pay state contributions required by Subchapter E; and
             (2)  immediately send any money received for state
contributions as a result of the application to the trustee for
deposit in the [general revenue] fund.
       SECTION 14.  Section 825.4092, Government Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to an employer contribution required to be
made under that section on or after September 1, 2007. An employer
contribution required to be made before September 1, 2007, is
governed by the law as it existed at the time the contribution was
required to be made, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
       SECTION 15.  Section 21.4031, Education Code, as added by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2006-2007 school year.
       SECTION 16.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.