By: Patrick, Nichols S.B. No. 200
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the continuation and functions of the State Pension
  Review Board.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 801.102, Government
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The board is composed of seven [nine] members.
         SECTION 2.  Section 801.1021, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 801.1021.  CONFLICT PROVISIONS. (a)  In this section,
  "Texas trade association" means a cooperative and voluntarily
  joined statewide association of business or professional
  competitors in this state designed to assist its members and its
  industry or profession in dealing with mutual business or
  professional problems and in promoting their common interest.
         (b)  A person is not eligible for appointment as a member of
  the board if the person or the person's spouse:
               (1)  is employed by or participates in the management
  of a business entity or other organization receiving funds from the
  board;
               (2)  owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more
  than a 10 percent interest in a business entity or other
  organization receiving funds from the board; or
               (3)  uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible
  goods, services, or funds from the board, other than compensation
  or reimbursement authorized by law for board membership,
  attendance, or expenses.
         (c) [(b)]  A person may not serve as a member of the board or
  act as the general counsel to the board if the person is required to
  register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 because of the person's
  activities for compensation on behalf of a profession related to
  the operation of the board.
         (d)  A person may not be a member of the board and may not be a
  board employee employed in a "bona fide executive, administrative,
  or professional capacity," as that phrase is used for purposes of
  establishing an exemption to the overtime provisions of the federal
  Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.),
  if:
               (1)  the person is an officer, employee, or paid
  consultant of a Texas trade association in the field of pensions; or
               (2)  the person's spouse is an officer, manager, or paid
  consultant of a Texas trade association in the field of pensions.
         SECTION 3.  Section 801.106, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 801.106.  TERMS OF OFFICE.  Members of the board hold
  office for staggered terms of six years, with the terms of two or 
  three members, as appropriate, expiring on January 31 of each
  odd-numbered year.
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (a), Section 801.1061, Government
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  It is a ground for removal from the board that a member:
               (1)  does not have at the time of taking office the
  qualifications required by Section 801.103 [or 801.104];
               (2)  does not maintain during service on the board the
  qualifications required by Section 801.103 [or 801.104];
               (3)  is ineligible for membership under Section
  801.1021;
               (4)  cannot, because of illness or disability,
  discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's
  term; or
               (5)  is absent from more than half of the regularly
  scheduled board meetings that the member is eligible to attend
  during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote
  of the board.
         SECTION 5.  Section 801.107, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 801.107.  SUNSET PROVISION. The State Pension Review
  Board is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act).  Unless
  continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the board is
  abolished and this chapter expires September 1, 2025 [2013].
         SECTION 6.  Subchapter C, Chapter 801, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 801.2012 to read as follows:
         Sec. 801.2012.  NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING AND ALTERNATIVE
  DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURES. (a)  The board shall develop and
  implement a policy to encourage the use of:
               (1)  negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter
  2008 for the adoption of board rules; and
               (2)  appropriate alternative dispute resolution
  procedures under Chapter 2009 to assist in the resolution of
  internal and external disputes under the board's jurisdiction.
         (b)  The board's procedures relating to alternative dispute
  resolution must conform, to the extent possible, to any model
  guidelines issued by the State Office of Administrative Hearings
  for the use of alternative dispute resolution by state agencies.
         (c)  The board shall:
               (1)  coordinate the implementation of the policy
  adopted under Subsection (a);
               (2)  provide training as needed to implement the
  procedures for negotiated rulemaking or alternative dispute
  resolution; and
               (3)  collect data concerning the effectiveness of those
  procedures.
         SECTION 7.  Subchapter C, Chapter 801, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 801.208 to read as follows:
         Sec. 801.208.  EDUCATION AND TRAINING. As authorized by
  Section 801.113(e), the board may develop and conduct training
  sessions and other educational activities for trustees and
  administrators of public retirement systems.  In exercising the
  board's authority under this section, the board may:
               (1)  conduct live training seminars on an Internet
  website at intervals the board considers necessary to keep trustees
  and administrators reasonably informed;
               (2)  maintain archives of previous seminars reasonably
  accessible to trustees and administrators on the Internet website;
  and
               (3)  use technologies and innovations the board
  considers appropriate to educate the greatest practicable number of
  trustees and administrators.
         SECTION 8.  Section 802.001, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as follows:
               (1-a)  "Defined contribution plan" means a plan
  provided by the governing body of a public retirement system that
  provides for an individual account for each participant and for
  benefits based solely on the amount contributed to the
  participant's account, and any income, expenses, gains and losses,
  and any forfeitures of accounts of other participants that may be
  allocated to the participant's account.
         SECTION 9.  Section 802.002, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
  as follows:
         (b)  If a public [an exempt] retirement system or program
  that is exempt under Subsection (a) is required by law to make an
  actuarial valuation of the assets of the system or program and
  publish actuarial information about the system or program, the
  actuary making the valuation and the governing body publishing the
  information must include the information required by Section
  802.101(b).
         (c)  Notwithstanding any other law, a defined contribution
  plan is exempt from Sections 802.101, 802.1012, 802.1014, 802.103,
  802.104, and 802.202(d).  This subsection may not be construed to
  exempt any plan from Section 802.105 or 802.106(h).
         (d)  Notwithstanding any other law, a retirement system that
  is organized under the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act
  (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) for a fire
  department consisting exclusively of volunteers as defined by that
  Act is exempt from Sections 802.101, 802.1012, 802.1014, 802.102,
  802.103, 802.104, and 802.202(d).  This subsection may not be
  construed to exempt any plan from Section 802.105 or 802.106(h).
         SECTION 10.  Subchapter B, Chapter 802, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 802.1014 to read as follows:
         Sec. 802.1014.  ACTUARIAL EXPERIENCE STUDY. (a)  In this
  section, "actuarial experience study" means a study in which
  actuarial assumptions are reviewed in light of relevant experience
  factors, important trends, and economic projections with the
  purpose of determining whether actuarial assumptions require
  adjustment.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), a public
  retirement system that conducts an actuarial experience study shall
  submit to the board a copy of the actuarial experience study before
  the 31st day after the date of the study's adoption.
         (c)  This section does not apply to the Employees Retirement
  System of Texas, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Texas
  County and District Retirement System, the Texas Municipal
  Retirement System, or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan
  Two.
         SECTION 11.  Section 802.102, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 802.102.  AUDIT. The governing body of a public
  retirement system shall have the accounts of the system audited at
  least annually by a certified public accountant in accordance with
  generally accepted auditing standards.  A general audit of a
  governmental entity, as defined by Section 802.1012, does not
  satisfy the requirement of this section.
         SECTION 12.  Section 802.103, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  A general audit of a governmental entity, as defined by
  Section 802.1012, does not satisfy the requirement of this section.
         SECTION 13.  Subsection (h), Section 802.106, Government
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (h)  A public retirement system shall submit to the board 
  [State Pension Review Board] copies of the summarized information
  required by Subsections (a) and (b)[.   A system shall submit a copy
  of the information required by Subsection (a)] before the 31st day
  after the date of publication or [and a copy of the information
  required by Subsection (b) before the 271st day after] the date a
  change is adopted, as appropriate.
         SECTION 14.  Section 801.104 and Subsection (c), Section
  802.103, Government Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 15.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act to
  Section 801.1021, Government Code, regarding prohibitions on
  members of the State Pension Review Board does not affect the
  entitlement of a member serving on the board immediately before
  September 1, 2013, to continue to serve and function as a member of
  the board for the remainder of the member's term.  The change in law
  made to that section applies only to a member appointed on or after
  September 1, 2013.
         (b)  Section 802.1014, Government Code, as added by this Act,
  applies only to an actuarial experience study conducted on or after
  the effective date of this Act. An actuarial experience study
  conducted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
  law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         (c)  Section 802.102, Government Code, as amended by this
  Act, is intended to clarify existing law with respect to the audit
  required by that section.
         (d)  Subsection (d), Section 802.103, Government Code, as
  added by this Act, is intended to clarify existing law with respect
  to the annual financial report required by Section 802.103,
  Government Code.
         (e)  Subsection (h), Section 802.106, Government Code, as
  amended by this Act, applies only to a change in statutes or
  ordinances governing a retirement system described by Subsection
  (b), Section 802.106, Government Code, that is adopted on or after
  the effective date of this Act.  A change in statutes or ordinances
  that is adopted before the effective date of this Act is governed by
  the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 16.  (a)  A person who is serving as a member of the
  State Pension Review Board appointed under Section 801.103,
  Government Code, on the effective date of this Act continues to
  serve until the person's term expires.
         (b)  The governor shall make appointments to fill vacancies
  on the State Pension Review Board so that board members' terms of
  office expire in compliance with Section 801.106, Government Code,
  as amended by this Act, and, if necessary for compliance with that
  section, a person may be appointed to a term of office that expires
  in less than six years.
         (c)  The term of a person who is serving as a member of the
  State Pension Review Board appointed under Section 801.104,
  Government Code, expires on the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 17.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.