Bill Text: TX HB548 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

Texas House Bill 548 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to a supplemental payment for retirees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-23 - Referred to Pensions, Investments & Financial Services [HB548 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB548-Introduced.html

	88R1909 JCG-D

	By: Vasut	H.B. No. 548



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to a supplemental payment for retirees of the Employees
	Retirement System of Texas.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. (a) From funds appropriated for this purpose,
	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 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.