88R12598 BDP-D
 
  By: Allen H.B. No. 3979
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain benefits paid by the Employees Retirement
  System of Texas.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter G, Chapter 814, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 814.605 and 814.606 to read as follows:
         Sec. 814.605.  ONE-TIME ADJUSTMENT TO BENEFITS.  (a)  The
  amount of a monthly service retirement benefit, disability
  retirement benefit, or death benefit paid under this chapter to a
  retiree or beneficiary for service credited in the employee class
  is increased to include a one-time 10 percent adjustment in
  accordance with this section.
         (b)  The board of trustees shall recompute the amount of a
  benefit paid monthly under this chapter by applying the 10 percent
  adjustment to the monthly amount otherwise required to be paid as
  determined in accordance with this chapter.
         Sec. 814.606.  ANNUAL COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT. (a)
  Notwithstanding Section 814.605, the amount of a monthly service
  retirement benefit, disability retirement benefit, or death
  benefit paid under this chapter to a retiree or beneficiary for
  service credited in the employee class is increased to include an
  annual cost-of-living adjustment equal to the annual percentage
  increase, if any, during the preceding fiscal year 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 in accordance with this section.
         (b)  On January 1 of each year, the board of trustees shall
  recompute the amount of a benefit paid monthly under this chapter by
  applying the four percent adjustment to the monthly amount
  otherwise required to be paid as determined in accordance with this
  chapter.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  The Employees Retirement System of Texas
  shall make a one-time supplemental payment of a retirement or death
  benefit, as provided by this section.
         (b)  A supplemental payment is payable in January 2024, 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)  $2,000; or
               (2)  the gross amount of the regular annuity payment to
  which the eligible annuitant is otherwise entitled for the month of
  December 2023.
         (d)  The Employees 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 Subsections (f) and (g) of this section, to
  be eligible for the supplemental payment, a person must be, for the
  month of December 2023, an annuitant eligible to receive:
               (1)  a standard retirement annuity payment;
               (2)  an optional service retirement annuity payment as
  either a retiree or beneficiary under Section 814.108, Government
  Code;
               (3)  a standard or occupational disability retirement
  annuity payment;
               (4)  a death benefit annuity payment under Section
  814.305, 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 Employees Retirement System of Texas must have been on
  or before September 1, 2022. 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 September 1, 2022.  The supplemental payment
  is in addition to the guaranteed number of payments under Section
  814.108, 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 814.103 or 814.205, Government Code,
  relating to retirees or disability retirees from the elected class
  of membership;
               (2)  a subtitle other than Subtitle B, Title 8,
  Government Code, except as provided by Subsection (e)(5) of this
  section; or
               (3)  Section 814.304, Government Code, relating to
  retiree survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity as
  the surviving spouse of a member of the elected class.
         (h)  Except as provided by this section, the board of
  trustees of the Employees 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.
         (i)  The supplemental payment is subject solely to the
  availability of appropriated funds.  The supplemental payment must
  comply with Section 811.006, Government Code.
         SECTION 3.  Section 814.604, Government Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 814.605 and 814.606, Government Code,
  as added by this Act, apply only to a monthly benefit payment made
  by the Employees Retirement System of Texas on or after September 1,
  2023.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.