Bill Text: TX SB200 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the continuation and functions of the State Pension Review Board.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - See remarks for effective date [SB200 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB200-Engrossed.html

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By: Patrick, Nichols S.B. No. 200

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the continuation and functions of the State Pension
Review Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 801.102, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The board is composed of seven [nine] members.
SECTION 2. Section 801.1021, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 801.1021. CONFLICT PROVISIONS. (a) In this section,
"Texas trade association" means a cooperative and voluntarily
joined statewide association of business or professional
competitors in this state designed to assist its members and its
industry or profession in dealing with mutual business or
professional problems and in promoting their common interest.
(b) A person is not eligible for appointment as a member of
the board if the person or the person's spouse:
(1) is employed by or participates in the management
of a business entity or other organization receiving funds from the
board;
(2) owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more
than a 10 percent interest in a business entity or other
organization receiving funds from the board; or
(3) uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible
goods, services, or funds from the board, other than compensation
or reimbursement authorized by law for board membership,
attendance, or expenses.
(c) [(b)] A person may not serve as a member of the board or
act as the general counsel to the board if the person is required to
register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 because of the person's
activities for compensation on behalf of a profession related to
the operation of the board.
(d) A person may not be a member of the board and may not be a
board employee employed in a "bona fide executive, administrative,
or professional capacity," as that phrase is used for purposes of
establishing an exemption to the overtime provisions of the federal
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.),
if:
(1) the person is an officer, employee, or paid
consultant of a Texas trade association in the field of pensions; or
(2) the person's spouse is an officer, manager, or paid
consultant of a Texas trade association in the field of pensions.
SECTION 3. Section 801.106, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 801.106. TERMS OF OFFICE. Members of the board hold
office for staggered terms of six years, with the terms of two or
three members, as appropriate, expiring on January 31 of each
odd-numbered year.
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 801.1061, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) It is a ground for removal from the board that a member:
(1) does not have at the time of taking office the
qualifications required by Section 801.103 [or 801.104];
(2) does not maintain during service on the board the
qualifications required by Section 801.103 [or 801.104];
(3) is ineligible for membership under Section
801.1021;
(4) cannot, because of illness or disability,
discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's
term; or
(5) is absent from more than half of the regularly
scheduled board meetings that the member is eligible to attend
during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote
of the board.
SECTION 5. Section 801.107, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 801.107. SUNSET PROVISION. The State Pension Review
Board is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act). Unless
continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the board is
abolished and this chapter expires September 1, 2025 [2013].
SECTION 6. Subchapter C, Chapter 801, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 801.2012 to read as follows:
Sec. 801.2012. NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING AND ALTERNATIVE
DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURES. (a) The board shall develop and
implement a policy to encourage the use of:
(1) negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter
2008 for the adoption of board rules; and
(2) appropriate alternative dispute resolution
procedures under Chapter 2009 to assist in the resolution of
internal and external disputes under the board's jurisdiction.
(b) The board's procedures relating to alternative dispute
resolution must conform, to the extent possible, to any model
guidelines issued by the State Office of Administrative Hearings
for the use of alternative dispute resolution by state agencies.
(c) The board shall:
(1) coordinate the implementation of the policy
adopted under Subsection (a);
(2) provide training as needed to implement the
procedures for negotiated rulemaking or alternative dispute
resolution; and
(3) collect data concerning the effectiveness of those
procedures.
SECTION 7. Subchapter C, Chapter 801, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 801.208 to read as follows:
Sec. 801.208. EDUCATION AND TRAINING. As authorized by
Section 801.113(e), the board may develop and conduct training
sessions and other educational activities for trustees and
administrators of public retirement systems. In exercising the
board's authority under this section, the board may:
(1) conduct live training seminars on an Internet
website at intervals the board considers necessary to keep trustees
and administrators reasonably informed;
(2) maintain archives of previous seminars reasonably
accessible to trustees and administrators on the Internet website;
and
(3) use technologies and innovations the board
considers appropriate to educate the greatest practicable number of
trustees and administrators.
SECTION 8. Section 802.001, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as follows:
(1-a) "Defined contribution plan" means a plan
provided by the governing body of a public retirement system that
provides for an individual account for each participant and for
benefits based solely on the amount contributed to the
participant's account, and any income, expenses, gains and losses,
and any forfeitures of accounts of other participants that may be
allocated to the participant's account.
SECTION 9. Section 802.002, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
as follows:
(b) If a public [an exempt] retirement system or program
that is exempt under Subsection (a) is required by law to make an
actuarial valuation of the assets of the system or program and
publish actuarial information about the system or program, the
actuary making the valuation and the governing body publishing the
information must include the information required by Section
802.101(b).
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a defined contribution
plan is exempt from Sections 802.101, 802.1012, 802.1014, 802.103,
802.104, and 802.202(d). This subsection may not be construed to
exempt any plan from Section 802.105 or 802.106(h).
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a retirement system that
is organized under the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act
(Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) for a fire
department consisting exclusively of volunteers as defined by that
Act is exempt from Sections 802.101, 802.1012, 802.1014, 802.102,
802.103, 802.104, and 802.202(d). This subsection may not be
construed to exempt any plan from Section 802.105 or 802.106(h).
SECTION 10. Subchapter B, Chapter 802, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 802.1014 to read as follows:
Sec. 802.1014. ACTUARIAL EXPERIENCE STUDY. (a) In this
section, "actuarial experience study" means a study in which
actuarial assumptions are reviewed in light of relevant experience
factors, important trends, and economic projections with the
purpose of determining whether actuarial assumptions require
adjustment.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a public
retirement system that conducts an actuarial experience study shall
submit to the board a copy of the actuarial experience study before
the 31st day after the date of the study's adoption.
(c) This section does not apply to the Employees Retirement
System of Texas, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Texas
County and District Retirement System, the Texas Municipal
Retirement System, or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan
Two.
SECTION 11. Section 802.102, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 802.102. AUDIT. The governing body of a public
retirement system shall have the accounts of the system audited at
least annually by a certified public accountant in accordance with
generally accepted auditing standards. A general audit of a
governmental entity, as defined by Section 802.1012, does not
satisfy the requirement of this section.
SECTION 12. Section 802.103, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A general audit of a governmental entity, as defined by
Section 802.1012, does not satisfy the requirement of this section.
SECTION 13. Subsection (h), Section 802.106, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(h) A public retirement system shall submit to the board
[State Pension Review Board] copies of the summarized information
required by Subsections (a) and (b)[. A system shall submit a copy
of the information required by Subsection (a)] before the 31st day
after the date of publication or [and a copy of the information
required by Subsection (b) before the 271st day after] the date a
change is adopted, as appropriate.
SECTION 14. Section 801.104 and Subsection (c), Section
802.103, Government Code, are repealed.
SECTION 15. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
Section 801.1021, Government Code, regarding prohibitions on
members of the State Pension Review Board does not affect the
entitlement of a member serving on the board immediately before
September 1, 2013, to continue to serve and function as a member of
the board for the remainder of the member's term. The change in law
made to that section applies only to a member appointed on or after
September 1, 2013.
(b) Section 802.1014, Government Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to an actuarial experience study conducted on or after
the effective date of this Act. An actuarial experience study
conducted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) Section 802.102, Government Code, as amended by this
Act, is intended to clarify existing law with respect to the audit
required by that section.
(d) Subsection (d), Section 802.103, Government Code, as
added by this Act, is intended to clarify existing law with respect
to the annual financial report required by Section 802.103,
Government Code.
(e) Subsection (h), Section 802.106, Government Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a change in statutes or
ordinances governing a retirement system described by Subsection
(b), Section 802.106, Government Code, that is adopted on or after
the effective date of this Act. A change in statutes or ordinances
that is adopted before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 16. (a) A person who is serving as a member of the
State Pension Review Board appointed under Section 801.103,
Government Code, on the effective date of this Act continues to
serve until the person's term expires.
(b) The governor shall make appointments to fill vacancies
on the State Pension Review Board so that board members' terms of
office expire in compliance with Section 801.106, Government Code,
as amended by this Act, and, if necessary for compliance with that
section, a person may be appointed to a term of office that expires
in less than six years.
(c) The term of a person who is serving as a member of the
State Pension Review Board appointed under Section 801.104,
Government Code, expires on the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 17. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.