By: Leach H.B. No. 2779
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the compensation and retirement benefits of certain
  elected state officials.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 26.006(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  A county judge is entitled to an annual salary
  supplement from the state in an amount equal to 18 percent of the
  annual [state base] salary paid to a district judge with comparable
  years of service as the county judge as set by the General
  Appropriations Act in accordance with Section 659.012 [659.012(a)]
  if at least 18 percent of the:
               (1)  functions that the judge performs are judicial
  functions; or
               (2)  total hours that the judge works are in the
  performance of judicial functions.
         SECTION 2.  Section 659.012(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  Notwithstanding Section 659.011 and subject to
  Subsections (b) and (b-1):
               (1)  a judge of a district court is entitled to an
  annual base salary from the state as set by the General
  Appropriations Act in an amount equal to at least $172,494
  [$140,000], except that the combined base salary of a district
  judge from all state and county sources, including compensation for
  any extrajudicial services performed on behalf of the county, may
  not exceed the amount that is $5,000 less than the maximum combined
  base salary from all state and county sources for a justice of a
  court of appeals other than a chief justice as determined under this
  subsection;
               (2)  a justice of a court of appeals other than the
  chief justice is entitled to an annual base salary from the state in
  the amount equal to 110 percent of the state base salary of a
  district judge as set by the General Appropriations Act, except
  that the combined base salary of a justice of the court of appeals
  other than the chief justice from all state and county sources,
  including compensation for any extrajudicial services performed on
  behalf of the county, may not exceed the amount that is $5,000 less
  than the base salary for a justice of the supreme court as
  determined under this subsection;
               (3)  a justice of the supreme court other than the chief
  justice or a judge of the court of criminal appeals other than the
  presiding judge is entitled to an annual base salary from the state
  in the amount equal to 120 percent of the state base salary of a
  district judge as set by the General Appropriations Act; and
               (4)  the chief justice or presiding judge of an
  appellate court is entitled to an annual base salary from the state
  in the amount equal to $2,500 more than the state base salary
  provided for the other justices or judges of the court, except that
  the combined base salary of the chief justice of a court of appeals
  from all state and county sources may not exceed the amount equal to
  $2,500 less than the base salary for a justice of the supreme court
  as determined under this subsection.
         SECTION 3.  Section 810.003, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (c), (d), and (e) and adding Subsection (d-1)
  to read as follows:
         (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a member of a
  public retirement system is not eligible to receive a service
  retirement annuity under the retirement system if the member is:
               (1)  convicted of a qualifying felony committed while
  in office and arising directly from the official duties of that
  elected office; or 
               (2)  expelled from a house of the legislature under
  Section 11, Article III, Texas Constitution.
         (d)  The retirement system, on receipt of notice of a
  conviction under Subsection (e) or (k), any similar notice of a
  conviction of a qualifying felony from a United States district
  court or United States attorney, or any other information that the
  retirement system determines by rule is sufficient to establish a
  conviction of a qualifying felony, shall suspend payments of a
  service retirement annuity to a person the system determines is
  ineligible to receive the annuity under Subsection (c)(1). A
  person whose conviction is overturned on appeal or who meets the
  requirements for innocence under Section 103.001(a)(2), Civil
  Practice and Remedies Code:
               (1)  is entitled to receive an amount equal to the
  accrued total of payments and interest earned on the payments
  withheld during the suspension period; and
               (2)  may resume receipt of annuity payments on payment
  to the retirement system of an amount equal to the contributions
  refunded to the person under Subsection (f).
         (d-1)  The retirement system, on receipt of notice of
  expulsion of a member from the legislature, shall suspend payments
  of a service retirement annuity to a person the system determines is
  ineligible to receive the annuity under Subsection (c)(2).
         (e)  Not later than the 30th day after the conviction of a
  person of a qualifying felony or expulsion of a member from the
  legislature, the governmental entity to which the person was
  elected or appointed must provide written notice of the conviction
  or expulsion to the public retirement system in which the person is
  enrolled. The notice must comply with the administrative rules
  adopted by the public retirement system under Subsection (j).
         SECTION 4.  Sections 814.103(a) and (a-1), Government Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (a-1) or (b), the
  standard service retirement annuity for service credited in the
  elected class of membership is an amount equal to the number of
  years of service credit in that class, times 2.3 percent of the sum
  of $140,000 plus any applicable increases determined by the Texas
  Ethics Commission to reflect inflation or any other relevant
  factors [the state base salary, excluding longevity pay payable
  under Section 659.0445 and as adjusted from time to time, being paid
  to a district judge as set by the General Appropriations Act in
  accordance with Section 659.012(a)].
         (a-1)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), the standard
  service retirement annuity for service credited in the elected
  class of membership for a member of the class under Section
  812.002(a)(3) whose effective date of retirement is on or after
  September 1, 2019, is an amount equal to the number of years of
  service credit in that class, times 2.3 percent of the state salary,
  excluding longevity pay payable under Section 659.0445 [and as
  adjusted from time to time], being paid in accordance with Section
  659.012 to a district judge who has the same number of years of
  contributing service credit as the member on the member's last day
  of service as a district or criminal district attorney, as
  applicable.
         SECTION 5.  Section 820.053(c), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  For purposes of this section, a member of the elected
  class of membership under Section 812.002(a)(2) shall have the
  member's accumulated account balance computed as if the
  contributions to the account were based on an annual [the state
  base] salary equal to the dollar amount used to compute the standard
  service retirement annuity for service credited in the elected
  class of membership under Section 814.103(a)[, excluding longevity
  pay payable under Section 659.0445, being paid a district judge as
  set by the General Appropriations Act in accordance with Section
  659.012(a)].
         SECTION 6.  Section 26.006(a), Government Code, as amended
  by this Act, applies only to a salary payment for a pay period
  beginning on or after the effective date of this Act. A salary
  payment for a pay period beginning before the effective date of this
  Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the pay period
  began, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 7.  Notwithstanding Section 659.012(a), Government
  Code, as amended by this Act, a judge of a district court is
  entitled to an annual base salary from the state as set by the
  General Appropriations Act in an amount equal to at least $155,400
  for the state fiscal year beginning September 1, 2023, and ending
  August 31, 2024, and that amount is the annual base salary to be
  used for the purpose of calculating any other judicial salaries by
  reference to that section for the state fiscal year beginning
  September 1, 2023, and ending August 31, 2024.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.