SB1892 - Relating to providing a cost-of-living adjustment applicable to certain benefits paid by the Employees Retirement System of Texas.

  89R10584 RDR-D     By: Parker S.B. No. 1892       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to providing a cost-of-living adjustment applicable 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 Section 814.605 to read as follows:           Sec.   814.605.     COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT FOR CERTAIN   ANNUITANTS: JANUARY 2026.   (a)   The amount of a death benefit paid   under this chapter to an annuitant based on service credited in the   employee class is increased to include a cost-of-living adjustment   in accordance with this section.           (b)     Subject to Subsections (c) and (d), to be eligible for   the adjustment:                 (1)  a person must be:                       (A)     for the month of December 2025, an annuitant   eligible to receive a death benefit annuity payment under Section   814.301, 814.302, or 814.305; and                       (B)     the surviving spouse or the guardian of the   surviving minor children of the deceased member on whose service   the annuity is based; and                 (2)     the deceased member described by Subdivision   (1)(B) must have been employed by the state as a law enforcement   officer at the time of the member's death which must have been an   occupational death, as determined by the executive director.           (c)     The adjustment does not apply to benefit payments based   on service credited in the elected class.           (d)  To be eligible for the adjustment under this section:                 (1)     the annuitant described by Subsection (b) must be   living on the effective date of the adjustment; and                 (2)     the date of death of the member of the retirement   system on whose service the annuity is based must have been before   September 1, 2025.           (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 computed by multiplying the amount of the monthly benefit   subject to the adjustment by the following percentage rate, as   applicable:                 (1)     if the date of the death of the member of the   retirement system on whose service the annuity is based was on or   before August 31, 2014, seven percent; and                 (2)     if the date of the death of the member of the   retirement system on whose service the annuity is based was after   August 31, 2014, four percent.           (g)     The board of trustees shall recompute the amount of a   death benefit annuity paid monthly under this chapter by applying   the adjustment required under Subsection (f) to the monthly amount   otherwise required to be paid. The adjustment under this section is   in addition to the adjustment, if any, granted under Section   814.604 or any other law.           (h)     The board of trustees shall determine the eligibility   for and the amount of any adjustment in monthly annuities in   accordance with this section.          SECTION 2.  Section 814.605, Government Code, as added by   this Act, applies only to a monthly benefit payment made by the   Employees Retirement System of Texas on or after January 1, 2026.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives   a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as   provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this   Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this   Act takes effect September 1, 2025.