HBA-TBM H.B. 498 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 498
By: Chisum
Pensions & Investments
2/20/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, officers with prior law enforcement experience who are
entering a state law enforcement agency do not receive consideration for
their previous service and may lose their retirement tenure.  This may
create an obstacle to the recruitment of experienced officers for state
service.  House Bill 498 authorizes peace officers with previous experience
to establish service credit with the Employees Retirement System of Texas.

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 498 amends the Government Code to authorize an eligible member
in the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) to establish credit in
ERS for previous service as a peace officer.  The peace officer is to be
licensed by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education or not required to be licensed by that commission and
commissioned by a municipal police department or county sheriff's office in
Texas.   

The bill provides that an eligible member is one who is a contributing
member as a law enforcement or custodial officer and who applies for credit
before the second anniversary of the date the member becomes a law
enforcement or custodial officer.   

The bill authorizes a member to establish credit by depositing with ERS a
contribution and the interest the member would have earned with the
retirement system for each month of service claimed, and sets the
computation rates for the contribution and interest.   

The bill authorizes a member to establish an amount of service credit of no
less than 24 months and no more than 60 months.  The service credit is used
in calculating the amount of an annuity, but the bill prohibits the service
credit calculation to be used to meet the minimum service requirement for
an annuity.  The bill authorizes a member to establish credit by a lump-sum
payment or by installment payments.  The bill prohibits a member from
establishing credits for service that is currently credited in another
public retirement system.   

The bill does not require the state to make contributions for service
established under this section.  The bill authorizes the retirement system
to require applicants for credit to supply any information the system deems
necessary.   

The bill authorizes a person who on the effective date of this Act has been
a member of ERS as a law enforcement or custodial officer for two years or
more to apply for service credit.   


 EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.