By: Deuell  S.B. No. 1413
         (In the Senate - Filed March 7, 2013; March 18, 2013, read
  first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  April 22, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 22, 2013, sent to printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the administration of retirement systems for paid,
  partly paid, or volunteer firefighters.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (b), Section 19, Texas Local
  Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
  Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  In each municipality and other political subdivision to
  which this Act applies and that has a fire department that does not
  consist exclusively of volunteers, the fire fighters' retirement
  system is governed by a board of trustees consisting of:
               (1)  in a municipality, the mayor [of the municipality]
  or the mayor's designated representative; in an emergency services
  district, the president of the board of emergency services
  commissioners; or in another political subdivision, the chief
  operating officer [of the political subdivision] or the chief
  operating officer's designated representative, as applicable;
               (2)  the chief financial officer of the municipality or
  other political subdivision or, if there is no officer denominated
  as chief financial officer, the person who performs the duties of
  chief financial officer or a person designated by the chief
  financial officer or by the person performing the duties of chief
  financial officer;
               (3)  three members of the retirement system elected by
  participating members as provided by Subsection (b) of this
  section; and
               (4)  two persons who reside in this state [in the
  municipality or other political subdivision or within the
  extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality], who are not
  officers or employees of the municipality or other political
  subdivision, and who are elected by a majority vote of the members
  of the board of trustees determined as provided by Subdivisions
  (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection.
         (b)  During each period that begins on December 1 of one year
  and ends on January 31 of the following year, the participating
  members of a fire fighters' retirement system in a municipality or
  other political subdivision subject to this section shall elect by
  secret ballot and certify to the governing body of the municipality
  or other political subdivision a member to the board of trustees to
  serve a term of three years.  To be elected a member of a board of
  trustees under this subsection, a person must be a participating
  member of the retirement system and receive a majority of the votes
  cast in the election, and at least 50 percent of all participating
  members of the retirement system must vote in the election.  
  Provided, however, that if only a single person is nominated for the
  board of trustees position being filled, that person may be elected
  by acclamation by those participating members present for the
  election meeting, without the necessity of a secret ballot.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (b), Section 25, Texas Local Fire
  Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
  Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The annual amount of payments from a fund under this
  section, excluding legal and medical fees, may not exceed:
               (1)  1 percent of the market [book] value of the assets
  of the fund for the first $1 million in market [book] value; and
               (2)  1/4 of 1 percent of the market [book] value of the
  assets of the fund that exceeds $1 million.
         SECTION 3.  Subsections (b) and (c), Section 30, Texas Local
  Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
  Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Contributions picked up as provided by this section
  shall be treated as employer contributions in determining tax
  treatment of the amounts under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
  [Each municipality or other political subdivision picking up
  contributions shall continue, however, to compute federal income
  tax withholding as if these contributions were employee wages until
  the first payroll period that begins after the date the fire
  fighters' pension commissioner files with the secretary of state a
  notice stating that the United States Internal Revenue Service has
  determined or a federal court has ruled that under Section 414(h),
  Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 414(h)), the
  contributions are not includable in the gross income of a member
  until they are distributed or made available.] Employee
  contributions picked up as provided by this section shall be
  deposited to the credit of the individual account of each affected
  member and shall be treated for all other purposes of this Act as if
  the contributions had been deducted from the compensation of
  members. Picked up contributions are not includable in a
  computation of contribution rates of the municipality or other
  political subdivision.
         (c)  A pick up of employee contributions takes effect in a
  municipality or other political subdivision on January 1 of the
  year following the year in which:
               (1)  the governing body of the municipality or other
  political subdivision by ordinance has adopted the pick up; and
               (2)  the pick up has been approved by majority vote of
  the participating members of the retirement system at an election
  by secret ballot at which at least 50 percent of the participating
  members vote[; and
               [(3) the fire fighters' pension commissioner has filed
  with the secretary of state a notice stating that the United States
  Internal Revenue Service has issued a determination that the plan
  covering employees of the municipality or other political
  subdivision is a qualified retirement plan under Section 401(a),
  Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 401(a)), and that
  its related trust is tax exempt under Section 501(a) of that code
  (26 U.S.C. Section 501(a))].
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (e), Section 19, Texas Local Fire
  Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
  Statutes), is repealed.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately 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 immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
 
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