HBA-MPM H.B. 1546 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1546 By: Uher Pensions & Investments 2/20/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, when a Texas peace or corrections officer is forced to retire due to an accident in the line of duty, the officer receives an annuity based on not less than 50 percent of the officer's base salary. Current law does not provide for salary adjustments or cost of living increases, which may lock an officer into receiving a disability retirement annuity amount. This may cause economic hardship to retired officers, particularly young officers who are disabled, unable to work, and locked into a salary that does not increase. House Bill 1546 increases retirement benefits for officers who are disabled in the line of duty. 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 1546 amends the Government Code to provide that a disability retirement annuity from the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) may not be less than 70 percent, rather than 50 percent, of the monthly compensation paid to an officer in the same classification as a disabled officer, as adjusted from time to time until the retired officer is 55 years old. The bill also modifies the formula for computing a disability retirement annuity payable to an officer because of a disability and sets forth the new formula for computing the annuity. The bill provides that if the disabled officer is totally disabled as determined under federal social security law, the disability retirement annuity is 100 percent of the monthly compensation paid to an officer in the same classification as the disabled officer, as adjusted from time to time until the retired officer is 55 years old. The bill requires ERS to compute an annuity that first became payable before September 1, 2001, as though this Act were in effect on the date the annuity became payable. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.