87S20458 BDP-F
 
  By: Dominguez H.B. No. 177
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain benefits paid by the Teacher Retirement System
  of Texas.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  (a)  Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code,
  is amended by adding Section 824.703 to read as follows:
         Sec. 824.703.  COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION;
  ANNUAL DETERMINATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the
  amount of a service retirement benefit, disability retirement
  benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter is adjusted in
  accordance with this section as necessary to reflect inflation.
         (b)  Each year, during the last seven days of October, the
  board of trustees shall set the rate of the adjustment for the next
  calendar year to equal the annual percentage increase, if any, in
  the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
  Workers (CPI-W) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
  United States Department of Labor as determined by the commissioner
  of social security under 42 U.S.C. Section 415(i) for purposes of
  providing an annual cost-of-living increase to social security
  benefit payments payable in the next calendar year.
         (c)  Subject to Subsection (d), the board of trustees shall
  increase the amount of a benefit payable under this chapter by
  applying the adjustment rate set by the board of trustees under
  Subsection (b) to the amount otherwise required to be paid as
  determined in accordance with the other applicable provisions of
  this chapter.
         (d)  The board of trustees may not pay a benefit increase
  under this section in any calendar year unless the board finds that
  the retirement system is actuarially sound and has money available
  to pay increased benefits in that year. If the board of trustees
  finds that the retirement system is actuarially sound, but that the
  amount of money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount
  of the adjustment under Subsection (b), the board shall compute the
  largest rate of adjustment possible for the amount of money
  available while maintaining the actuarial soundness of the system
  and shall use that rate in increasing benefits under Subsection (c)
  for that calendar year.
         (b)  This section applies only to a benefit paid by the
  Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2023.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  Subject to Section 821.006, Government
  Code, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall make a one-time
  supplemental payment of a retirement or death benefit, as provided
  by this section.
         (b)  The supplemental payment is payable not later than
  January 2022 and, to the extent practicable, on a date or dates that
  coincide with the regular annuity payment payable to each eligible
  annuitant.
         (c)  The amount of the supplemental payment is equal to the
  lesser of:
               (1)  the gross amount of the regular annuity payment to
  which the eligible annuitant is otherwise entitled for the calendar
  month immediately prior to the calendar month in which the Teacher
  Retirement System of Texas issues the one-time supplemental payment
  in accordance with Subsection (b) of this section; or
               (2)  $2,400.
         (d)  The supplemental payment is payable without regard to
  any forfeiture of benefits under Section 824.601, Government Code.
  The Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall make applicable tax
  withholding and other legally required deductions before
  disbursing the supplemental payment. A supplemental payment under
  this section is in addition to and not in lieu of the regular
  monthly annuity payment to which the eligible annuitant is
  otherwise entitled.
         (e)  Subject to Subsection (f) of this section, to be
  eligible for the supplemental payment, a person must be, for the
  calendar month immediately prior to the calendar month in which the
  Teacher Retirement System of Texas issues the one-time supplemental
  payment in accordance with Subsection (b) of this section, and
  disregarding any forfeiture of benefits under Section 824.601,
  Government Code, an annuitant eligible to receive:
               (1)  a standard retirement annuity payment;
               (2)  an optional retirement annuity payment as either a
  retiree or beneficiary;
               (3)  a life annuity payment under Section
  824.402(a)(4), Government Code;
               (4)  an annuity for a guaranteed period of 60 months
  under Section 824.402(a)(3), Government Code; or
               (5)  an alternate payee annuity payment under Section
  804.005, Government Code.
         (f)  If the annuitant is a retiree or a beneficiary under an
  optional retirement payment plan, to be eligible for the
  supplemental payment, the effective date of the retirement of the
  member of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas must have been on
  or before July 31, 2021. If the annuitant is a beneficiary under
  Section 824.402(a)(3) or (4), Government Code, to be eligible for
  the supplemental payment, the date of death of the member of the
  retirement system must have been on or before July 31, 2021. The
  supplemental payment shall be made to an alternate payee who is an
  annuitant under Section 804.005, Government Code, only if the
  annuity payment to the alternate payee commenced on or before July
  31, 2021. The supplemental payment is in addition to the guaranteed
  number of payments under Section 824.204(c)(3) or (4), Section
  824.308(c)(3) or (4), or Section 824.402(a)(3), Government Code,
  and may not be counted as one of the guaranteed monthly payments.
         (g)  The supplemental payment does not apply to payments
  under:
               (1)  Section 824.304(a), Government Code, relating to
  disability retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;
               (2)  Section 824.804(b), Government Code, relating to
  participants in the deferred retirement option plan with regard to
  payments from their deferred retirement option plan accounts;
               (3)  Section 824.501(a), Government Code, relating to
  retiree survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an
  amount fixed by statute; or
               (4)  Section 824.404(a), Government Code, relating to
  active member survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity
  in an amount fixed by statute.
         (h)  Except as provided by this section, the board of
  trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall determine
  the eligibility for and the amount and timing of a supplemental
  payment and the manner in which the payment is made.
         SECTION 3.  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 on the 91st day after the last day of the
  legislative session.