HBA-DMD H.B. 166 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 166 By: Chisum Pensions & Investments 2/23/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, officers with prior law enforcement service who are entering a state law enforcement agency do not receive any consideration for previous hazardous duty and lose their retirement tenure. This can be an obstacle to the recruitment of experienced officers for state service. H.B. 166 authorizes officers to establish retirement credit for previous service as a commissioned peace officer. The bill prohibits an officer from establishing more than 60 months of service credit. 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 Subchapter F, Chapter 813, Government Code, by adding Section 813.511, as follows: Sec. 813.511. PREVIOUS PEACE OFFICER SERVICE. (a) Authorizes an eligible member to establish retirement credit for previous service as a peace officer 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 this state. (b) Provides that an eligible member is one who is a contributing member as a law enforcement or custodial officer and applies for credit before the second anniversary of the date the member became a law enforcement or custodial officer. (c) Authorizes a member to establish credit by depositing with the retirement system for each service month claimed, a contribution computed on the member's compensation for the service as a peace officer at the combined rates required of the state and employee members of the retirement system at the time the service was performed, plus interest on that amount as computed on the basis of the state fiscal year at an annual rate of 10 percent from the date the service was performed to the date of deposit. (d) Prohibits a member from establishing more than 60 months of service credit and from using the credit established under this section to meet a minimum service requirement for an annuity. Authorizes credit to be established by a lump-sum payment or payments authorized by Section 813.104 (Alternative Payment to Establish or Reestablish Service Credit). Prohibits credit from being established for service that is currently credited in another public retirement system. (e) Sets forth that the state is not required to make contributions for service established under this section. (f) Authorizes the retirement system to require credit applicants under this section to submit any information the system considers essential to enable it to determine eligibility for, or amount of, credit, or amounts of required contributions. SECTION 2. Authorizes a person who on the effective date of this Act has been a member of the Employees Retirement System as a law enforcement or custodial officer for two years or more to apply for service credit under this section before January 1, 2000. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.