|
| |
Important Dates
- By August 31, 2005, if you are an ERS member with at
least 10 years of ERS service, you should have a death
benefit plan on file at ERS.
- If you are a state agency employee who applies for
non-occupational disability retirement after August 31,
2005, your annuity benefit may be reduced according to your
age at retirement. Approval of the actuarial table used to
calculate the benefit is expected at the ERS Board meeting
in August.
- Effective January 1, 2006, the amount of Additional
Service Credit (ASC) state agency employees can purchase
will drop from five to three years.
- If you are planning to retire under ERS, you must
certify any Texas Governmental Entity (TGE) service credit
by December 31, 2005 in order to use it to retire under the
Rule of 80 at any point in the future. Remember, if you are
using TGE credit at any time to qualify for retirement under
the Rule of 80, you must do so before age 60.
- Effective January 1, 2006, state agency and higher
education part-time employees will receive the same state
contribution (50%) for health insurance premiums when they
retire.
- Effective September 1, 2006, the penalty interest of
buying back refunded ERS service credit will increase from
5% to 10%.
Effective September 1, 2005
Senate Bill 1176—ERS Omnibus Bill
Non-occupational disability retirement
Non-occupational disability retirement will not be available to
non-contributing members (employees who have left state service
and left their money on account at ERS) who do not apply by
August 31, 2005.
Annuities for non-occupational disability retirement
Reduces non-occupational disability retirement annuities
according to actuarial tables adopted by the Board of Trustees
(expected August 2005). Annuity benefits will be reduced for
members based on their age at retirement. Reductions will not
apply to applications received at ERS by August 31, 2005.
Death benefit plans for ERS members
For state agency employees with at least 10 years of ERS
service credit, a death benefit plan (DBP) enables you to
designate the person(s) who will receive your retirement
benefits if you die before you retire under ERS. The DBP also
lets you choose how your beneficiary will receive the benefit –
as a lump sum refund of your account, a monthly annuity payment,
or the beneficiary’s choice. Under current rules, any members
who are contributing (currently employed by the State) or
non-contributing (employees who have left state service and left
their money on account at ERS) can, after 10 years of ERS
service, have a DBP, which will be paid according to their
wishes if they die before they retire. On September 1, 2005, the
rules will change.
You could be affected in one of two ways:
- If you have at least 10 years of ERS service credit,
make sure you have a DBP on file with ERS by August 31,
2005. You can check your DBP in
ERS OnLine, or if you do not have Internet access, you
can call ERS. If you do not have a DBP on file by August 31,
2005, and you later stop working for the State and leave
your money with ERS, the only option your beneficiary will
have if you die is to receive a lump sum refund of your
retirement account.
- If you reach your 10-year mark after August 31, 2005,
the only way your beneficiary can receive a DBP benefit is
if you are still working for the State at the time of your
death.
Optional Retirement Program (ORP) members
If you are an ORP member and you want to buy state service, you
must do so by August 31, 2005. This provision eliminates the
ability of ORP members to buy refunded state service without
returning to state employment. Also, ORP members will no longer
be able to use ORP service to meet the 10 years of service
credit required to qualify for a disability retirement annuity.
90-day wait for new hires
Makes permanent the 90-day wait for ERS retirement membership
for newly hired employees.
Senate Bill 1
State contribution to the ERS Retirement Fund
Increases the State’s monthly contribution to the ERS
retirement fund from 6% to 6.45%. ERS member contributions will
remain the same at 6%. This will help further strengthen the
fund so that current and future ERS retirees can be assured of
receiving the pensions they have earned. It may also help make
it possible for ERS to provide benefit enhancements such as 13th
checks; however, this is not expected for several more years.
Effective January 1, 2006
Senate Bill 1176—ERS Omnibus Bill
(state employees only)
Texas Governmental Entity (TGE) service
Your TGE service credit must be certified and sent to ERS by
December 31, 2005 in order for you to use it to help you retire
under the Rule of 80. More information and a TGE certification
form is available on the ERS website. Remember, if you are using
TGE credit at any time to qualify for retirement under the Rule
of 80, you must do so before age 60. (Note: TGE service is not
the same as proportionate retirement system service.)
Additional Service Credit
Reduces the amount of Additional Service Credit (ASC) you can
purchase from 60 months (five years) to 36 months (three years).
Following are examples of how this new limit would work:
- If you already have purchased three years of ASC by
December 31, 2005, you cannot buy more.
- If you have purchased four or five years of ASC by
December 31, 2005, you can keep all of it, but you cannot
buy more.
- If you have purchased two years of ASC by December 31,
2005, you can purchase one more year after January 1, 2006.
Senate Bill 1176—ERS Omnibus Bill
(state & higher ed employees)
Health benefits for part-time employees who retire
Active employees who are receiving a part-time state
contribution (50%) for their health insurance when they file for
retirement will receive the part-time contribution when they
retire. This provision is effective for those employees who
retire on or after January 31, 2006.
Effective September 1, 2006
Senate Bill 1176—ERS Omnibus Bill
Interest on refunded service
Increases the penalty interest of buying back refunded service
credit from 5% to 10%. If you want to purchase refunded service
credit at the current annual rate of 5%, buy it back before the
cost goes up on September 1, 2006. Funds from a Texa$aver
program account or another qualified account can be rolled over
to purchase credit, without tax consequences. |
|
79R385 SGA-D
By: Hopson H.B. No. 139
A BILL TO BE ENTITLEDAN ACT
relating to the hazardous duty performed by certain custodial
officers[0]
of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subchapter L,
Chapter 659, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 659.3071 to read as
follows: Sec. 659.3071. LIFETIME SERVICE CREDIT FOR CERTAIN CUSTODIAL
OFFICERS[0]. (a) In
the computation of an individual's lifetime service credit under Section
659.307(a), the individual is entitled to include as months served in a
hazardous duty position any months that the individual served as an employee of
the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation at the maximum
security unit of Rusk State Hospital before July 1, 1988, if the individual:
(1) was authorized under the General Appropriations Act for a step increase
in pay[0] for the
individual's service at Rusk State Hospital before July 1, 1988; and (2)
on September 1, 2005, is employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as
a custodial officer[0]:
(A) as defined by Section 811.001; or (B) who satisfies the definition
of custodial officer[0]
under Section 811.001, except that the individual is a retiree. (b) An
individual entitled to additional lifetime service credit under Subsection (a)
is not entitled to retroactive pay[0]
for that service. SECTION 2. Section 811.001(8), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows: (8) "Custodial officer[0]"
means a member of the retirement system who is employed by the Board of Pardons
and Paroles or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a parole
officer[0] or
caseworker or who is employed by the institutional division or the state jail
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and certified by the
department as having a normal job assignment that requires frequent or
infrequent regularly planned contact with, and in close proximity to, inmates of
the institutional division or inmates or defendants confined in the state jail
division without the protection of bars, doors, security screens, or similar
devices and includes assignments normally involving supervision or the potential
for supervision of inmates in inmate housing areas, educational or recreational
facilities, industrial shops, kitchens, laundries, medical areas, agricultural
shops or fields, or in other areas on or away from property of the institutional
division or the state jail division. The term includes a member who transfers
from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to the managed health care unit of
The University of Texas Medical Branch or the Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center pursuant to Section 9.01, Chapter 238, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, 1993, elects at the time of transfer to retain membership in the
retirement system, and is certified by the managed health care unit or the
health sciences center as having a normal job assignment described by this
subdivision. The term includes a person who received a step increase in
pay[0] under the
General Appropriations Act as an employee of the Texas Department of Mental
Health and Mental Retardation at the maximum security unit of Rusk State
Hospital before July 1, 1988, and who, on September 1, 2005, is employed as a
custodial officer[0]
by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and is not a retiree. SECTION 3.
Section 813.506(b), Government Code, is amended to read as follows: (b)
Except as provided by Section 813.5061, to [To] be
creditable as custodial officer[0]
service, service performed must be performed as a parole
officer[0] or
caseworker or must meet the requirements of the rules adopted under Subsection
(a) and be performed by persons in one of the following job categories: (1) all
persons classified as Correctional[0]
Officer[0] I
through warden, including training officers[0]
and special operations reaction team officers[0];
(2) all other employees assigned to work on a unit and whose jobs require
routine contact with inmates or defendants confined in the state jail division,
including but not limited to farm managers, livestock supervisors, maintenance
foremen, shop foremen, medical assistants, food service supervisors, stewards,
education consultants, commodity specialists, and
correctional[0]
counselors; (3) employees assigned to administrative offices whose jobs require
routine contact with inmates or defendants confined in the state jail division
at least 50 percent of the time, including but not limited to investigators,
compliance monitors, accountants routinely required to audit unit operations,
sociologists, interviewers, classification
officers[0], and supervising counselors; and (4)
administrative positions whose jobs require response to emergency situations
involving inmates or defendants confined in the state jail division, including
but except as specified not limited to the director, deputy directors, assistant
directors, and not more than 25 administrative duty
officers[0].
SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 813, Government Code, is amended by adding
Section 813.5061 to read as follows: Sec. 813.5061. CUSTODIAL
OFFICER[0] SERVICE
CREDIT FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES. A custodial
officer[0] entitled to additional months of lifetime
service credit under Section 659.3071 is entitled to include those same months
as months of creditable custodial officer[0]
service under Section 813.506. SECTION 5. The Texas Department of Criminal
Justice shall adopt not later than January 1, 2006, any rules that are necessary
to implement the changes required by Sections 659.3071 and 813.5061, Government
Code, as added by this Act. SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
Bill: HB 181 - Legislative Session: 79(R)
Council Document: 79R 01747
Introduced Version
Relating to the eligibility of certain corrections and peace officers to
participate in a low-interest home loan program offered by the state.
| DESCRIPTION |
COMMENT |
DATE |
|
| H |
Filed |
|
12/01/2004 |
|
| H |
Read first time |
|
02/01/2005 |
|
| H |
Referred to Urban Affairs |
|
02/01/2005 |
|
| H |
Scheduled for public hearing on . . . . |
|
03/08/2005 |
|
| H |
Considered in public hearing |
|
03/08/2005 |
|
| H |
Committee substitute considered in committee |
|
03/08/2005 |
|
| H |
Testimony taken in committee |
|
03/08/2005 |
|
| H |
Left pending in committee |
|
03/08/2005 |
|
| Primary Author |
Date Signed On |
| Guillen |
12/01/2004 |
| Joint Authors |
Date Signed On |
| Escobar |
03/10/2005 |
AN ACTrelating to the eligibility of certain corrections and
peace officers to participate in a low-interest home loan program offered by the
state. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. This
Act may be cited as the "Protectors Provision Act." SECTION 2. The heading to
Section 2306.563, Government Code, as added by Chapter 1050, Acts of the 78th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, is amended to read as follows: Sec.
2306.563. FIRE FIGHTER, CORRECTIONS OFFICER, AND PEACE [POLICE]
OFFICER HOME LOAN PROGRAM. SECTION 3. Section 2306.563(a), Government Code, as
added by Chapter 1050, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, is
amended by amending Subdivisions (2), (4), and (5) and adding Subdivision (6) to
read as follows: (2) "Home" means a dwelling in this state in which a fire
fighter, corrections officer, or peace [police]
officer intends to reside as the fire fighter's or the [police]
officer's principal residence. (4) "Peace officer" ["Police
officer"] has the meaning assigned by Section 1.07(a)(36), Penal
[143.003, Local Government] Code. (5) "Program" means the fire
fighter, corrections officer, and peace [police]
officer home loan program. (6) "Corrections officer" means an officer or
employee of a correctional facility described by Section 1.07(a)(14)(A), (B), or
(D), Penal Code. SECTION 4. Sections 2306.563(b), (c), (d), and (f),
Government Code, as added by Chapter 1050, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, are amended to read as follows: (b) The corporation shall
establish a program to provide eligible fire fighters, corrections officers,
and peace [police] officers with low-interest home
mortgage loans. (c) To be eligible for a loan under this section, at the time a
person files an application for the loan, the person must: (1) be a fire fighter,
corrections officer, or peace [police] officer; (2)
reside in this state; and (3) have an income of not more than 115 percent of
area median family income, adjusted for family size. (d) The corporation may
contract with other agencies of the state or with private entities to determine
whether applicants qualify as fire fighters, corrections officers, or
peace [police] officers under this section or otherwise to
administer all or part of this section. (f) The board of directors of the
corporation shall adopt rules governing: (1) the administration of the program;
(2) the making of loans under the program; (3) the criteria for approving
mortgage lenders; (4) the use of insurance on the loans and the homes financed
under the program, as considered appropriate by the board to provide additional
security for the loans; (5) the verification of occupancy of the home by the
fire fighter, corrections officer, or peace [police]
officer as the fire fighter's or the [police] officer's
principal residence; and (6) the terms of any contract made with any mortgage
lender for processing, originating, servicing, or administering the loans.
SECTION 5. Section 1372.0222, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1372.0222. DEDICATION OF PORTION OF STATE CEILING FOR FIRE FIGHTER,
CORRECTIONS OFFICER, AND PEACE [POLICE] OFFICER HOME
LOAN PROGRAM. Until August 1, out of that portion of the state ceiling that is
available exclusively for reservations by issuers of qualified mortgage bonds
under Section 1372.022, $25 million shall be allotted each year and made
available exclusively to the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation for the
purpose of issuing qualified mortgage bonds in connection with the fire fighter,
corrections officer, and peace [police] officer home
loan program established under Section 2306.563. SECTION 6. Sections 2306.553(a)
and (b), Government Code, are amended to read as follows: (a) The public purpose
of the corporation is to perform activities and services that the corporation's
board of directors determines will promote the public health, safety, and
welfare through the provision of adequate, safe, and sanitary housing primarily
for individuals and families of low, very low, and extremely low income, for
professional educators under the professional educators home loan program as
provided by Section 2306.562, and for fire fighters, corrections officers,
and peace [police] officers under the fire fighter,
corrections officer, and peace [police] officer home
loan program as provided by Section 2306.563. The activities and services shall
include engaging in mortgage banking activities and lending transactions and
acquiring, holding, selling, or leasing real or personal property. (b) The
corporation's primary public purpose is to facilitate the provision of housing
by issuing qualified 501(c)(3) bonds and qualified residential rental project
bonds and by making affordable loans to individuals and families of low, very
low, and extremely low income, to professional educators under the professional
educators home loan program, and to fire fighters, corrections officers,
and peace [police] officers under the fire fighter,
corrections officer, and peace [police] officer home
loan program. The corporation may make first lien, single family purchase money
mortgage loans for single family homes only to individuals and families of low,
very low, and extremely low income if the individual's or family's household
income is not more than the greater of 60 percent of the median income for the
state, as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development, or 60 percent of the area median family income, adjusted for family
size, as defined by that department. The corporation may make loans for
multifamily developments if: (1) at least 40 percent of the units in a
multifamily development are affordable to individuals and families with incomes
at or below 60 percent of the median family income, adjusted for family size; or
(2) at least 20 percent of the units in a multifamily development are affordable
to individuals and families with incomes at or below 50 percent of the median
family income, adjusted for family size. SECTION 7. This Act takes effect
September 1, 2005.
REP. HOPSON AUTHORS BILL TO PROTECT
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
OTHER BILLS THAT SHOULD MERIT
YOUR ATTENTION |
