Texas Border Business
Austin, TX – Representative Sergio Muñoz, Jr. joined his colleagues in the Texas House of Representatives to pass historic legislation that increases the state’s contributions to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) in SB 12.
As a Co-sponsor of SB 12, the Representative has ensured that retired teachers receive a 13th check and incremental increases of the state’s contributions to the fund over five years. This legislation is crucial to the future of retired teachers because the state is prohibited from issuing a cost-of-living increase or supplemental payment to retired teachers until the fund is deemed actuarially sound.
This legislation accomplishes actuarial stability by adjusting the rates of member and state contributions. SB 12 sets the state contribution to TRS based on certain percentages of the aggregate annual compensation of all members of TRS during each respective fiscal year from the fiscal year beginning on September 1, 2019, to the fiscal year beginning on September 1, 2023. The bill then sets the rate of contributions for each member of TRS for compensation paid on or after September 1, 2019, at the lesser of 7.7 percent of the member’s annual compensation or a rate that is reduced based on the state contribution rate established under the bill’s provisions for the applicable fiscal year.
“I’m thrilled that we have made retired educators a priority during
The Representative’s dedication to helping retired teachers this session began on the Appropriations Committee, where he voted to appropriate $684 million from general revenue to TRS and $658 million from the economic stabilization fund (ESF) for the 13th check. Both of these financial measures have allowed for the successful passage of SB 12.
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