bill giving retired teachers a 6% raise

The text as introduced · 1,050 words

89R16066 RDR-D

By: Bryant
H.B. No. 5156

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to cost-of-living adjustments applicable to certain

benefits paid by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 824, Government Code, is

amended by adding Sections 824.704 and 824.705 to read as follows:

Sec. 824.704. COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT: JANUARY 2026. (a)

Notwithstanding any other section of this subchapter, the

retirement system shall make a one-time cost-of-living adjustment

payable to annuitants receiving a monthly death or retirement

benefit annuity, as provided by this section.

(b) Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), to be eligible for

the adjustment, a person must be, on the effective date of the

adjustment and disregarding any forfeiture of benefits under

Section 824.601, an annuitant eligible to receive:

(1) a standard service or disability retirement

annuity payment;

(2) an optional service or disability retirement

annuity payment as either a retiree or beneficiary;

(3) an annuity payment under Section 824.402(a)(3) or

(4);

(4) an annuity payment under Section 824.502; or

(5) an alternate payee annuity payment under Section

804.005.

(c) If the annuitant:

(1) is a retiree, or is a beneficiary under an optional

retirement payment plan, to be eligible for the adjustment under

this section:

(A) the annuitant must be living on the effective

date of the adjustment; and

(B) the effective date of the retirement of the

member of the retirement system must have been before January 1,

2025;

(2) is a beneficiary under Section 824.402(a)(3) or

(4) or 824.502, to be eligible for the adjustment:

(A) the annuitant must be living on the effective

date of the adjustment; and

(B) the date of death of the member of the

retirement system must have been before January 1, 2025; or

(3) is an alternate payee under Section 804.005, the

annuitant is eligible for the adjustment only if the effective date

of the election to receive the annuity payment was before January 1,

2025.

(d) An adjustment made under this section does not apply to

payments under:

(1) Section 824.203(d), relating to retirees who

receive a standard service retirement annuity in an amount fixed by

statute;

(2) Section 824.304(a), relating to disability

retirees with less than 10 years of service credit;

(3) Section 824.304(b)(2), relating to disability

retirees who receive a disability annuity in an amount fixed by

statute;

(4) Section 824.404(a), relating to active member

survivor beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an amount

fixed by statute;

(5) Section 824.501(a), relating to retiree survivor

beneficiaries who receive a survivor annuity in an amount fixed by

statute; or

(6) Section 824.804(b), relating to participants in

the deferred retirement option plan with regard to payments from

their deferred retirement option plan accounts.

(e) An adjustment under this section must be made beginning

with an annuity payable for the month of January 2026.

(f) The amount of the adjustment provided under this section

is calculated by multiplying the amount of the monthly benefit

subject to the adjustment by six percent. The adjustment under this

section is in addition to the adjustments, if any, granted under

Section 824.702, 824.703, or 824.705 or any other law.

Sec. 824.705. 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. The adjustment under this section is in addition to

the adjustments, if any, granted under Section 824.702, 824.703, or

824.704 or any other law.

(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.

SECTION 2. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas is

required to make a cost-of-living adjustment under Section 824.704,

Government Code, as added by this Act, only if the board of trustees

of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas finds that the

legislature appropriated money to the retirement system in an

amount sufficient to provide the payment without increasing the

unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement system. The

amount appropriated by the legislature to provide the payment must

be in addition to any amounts the state is required to contribute to

the retirement system under Subchapter E, Chapter 825, Government

Code. If the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of

Texas finds that the legislature did not appropriate money in an

amount sufficient to provide the cost-of-living adjustment without

increasing the unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement

system, the retirement system may not make the adjustment payment.

SECTION 3. Sections 824.704 and 824.705, Government Code,

as added by this Act, apply only to a monthly benefit payment made

by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1,

2026.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.