BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2629

By: Flynn

Pensions, Investments & Financial Services

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) requires its members to adhere to strict timelines when dealing with hearings and appeals related to benefits, but TRS is not held to the same standard. C.S.H.B. 2629 seeks to address this issue by ensuring that TRS adheres to the same standards as its members when dealing with hearings and appeals related to benefits.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2629 amends the Government Code to require the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), in adopting rules governing the appeal of a final administrative decision of TRS, to ensure that rules establishing deadlines for the filing of an appeal afford a member or retiree at least the same amount of time to file an appeal as TRS has to issue a TRS decision. The bill requires the TRS board to adopt rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions and establishes that such rules apply only to the appeal of an administrative decision of a TRS employee made on or after January 1, 2020. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2629 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a requirement for the TRS board to ensure that rules establishing deadlines for filing an appeal of a final administrative decision of the board afford a member or retiree at least the same amount of time to file an appeal as TRS has to issue a TRS decision.  

The substitute does not include a prohibition against a period during which a member or retiree may appeal a TRS employee administrative decision beginning before the eighth day after the date the employee notifies the member or retiree of the decision.