HBA-SEB H.B. 2540 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2540
By: Davis, Yvonne
Pensions and Investments
4/9/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

At one time, Texas law did not authorize survivor benefits for divorced
spouses of employees of the Dallas Police and Fire Pension Fund.  In 1984,
the Retirement Equity Act became federal law.  That Act gave a court the
right to award survivor benefits to a divorced spouse.  Article 6243a-1,
which was enacted in 1989, governs the pension system for police officers
and firefighters in certain cities, including Dallas, and applies the
Retirement Equity Act.  That article, however, does not apply to a spouse
who was divorced prior to 1989.  H.B. 2540 amends Article 6243a-1 to
designate a former spouse as  an alternate payee and to entitle the former
spouse to receive benefits in the same portion as a surviving spouse if the
former spouse was originally awarded a share of the benefits in a qualified
domestic relations order.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 6.06, Article 6243a-1, V.T.C.S., by adding
Subsection (u), as follows: 

(u)  Provides that in this subsection "alternate payee" and "qualified
domestic relations order" have the meanings assigned by Section 804.001,
Government Code.  "Alternate payee" means a spouse, former spouse, child,
or other dependent of a member or retiree who is recognized by a domestic
relations order as having a right to receive all or a portion of the
benefits payable to a member by a public retirement system.  "Qualified
domestic relations order" means a domestic relations order which creates or
recognizes the existence of an alternate payee's right or assigns the right
to receive all or a portion of the benefits payable to a member by a public
retirement system and directs the system to disburse those benefits to the
alternate payee.  Establishes that a person has the status of a surviving
spouse and is entitled to the same portion of benefits payable to a
surviving spouse as was awarded in a qualified domestic relations order
applicable to an alternate payee's former spouse if the person is the
alternate payee and the former spouse awarded a share of benefits payable
under this article (Pension System for Police Officers and Firefighters in
Certain Cities).  Provides that this subsection applies notwithstanding any
provision of this article to the contrary. Specifies that this subsection
does not increase the amount of benefits otherwise payable under this
article to a surviving spouse.   

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.  Provides that this Act
applies to all payments of benefits to a surviving spouse that are made on
or after that date. 
           

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.