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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to a cost-of-living increase applicable to benefits paid |
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by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is |
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amended by adding Section 824.703 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 824.703. ADJUSTMENT FOR COST OF LIVING; ANNUAL |
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DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the amount of a |
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service retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or |
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death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in accordance |
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with this section as necessary to reflect inflation. |
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(b) Each year, during the last seven days of October, the |
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board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next |
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calendar year to equal the percentage increase, if any, in the |
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Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers |
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(CPI-W) most recently published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics |
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of the United States Department of Labor and used by the United |
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States Social Security Administration to provide a cost-of-living |
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adjustment for social security benefit payments payable beginning |
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in January of the next year. |
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(c) The board of trustees shall recompute the amount of a |
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benefit paid under this chapter by applying the adjustment computed |
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under Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as |
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determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of |
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this chapter. |
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(d) The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase |
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under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that |
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the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available |
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to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees |
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finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound but that the |
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amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount |
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of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the |
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largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money |
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available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system |
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and shall use that rate in recomputing the benefit amount under |
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Subsection (c) for that calendar year. |
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SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a benefit paid by the |
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Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2018. |
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SECTION 3. Notwithstanding Section 824.703(b), Government |
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Code, as added by this Act, for the 2018 calendar year, the board of |
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trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall set the |
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rate of the adjustment to be applied to the amount of a service |
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retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or death |
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benefit in the manner provided by Section 824.703, Government Code, |
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as added by this Act, not later than December 8, 2017. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the |
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legislative session. |