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Legislative Updates

Legislative Update No. 52, Session 80
By Tim Lee, Executive DirectorPrinter Friendly ||| Print as PDF

May 26, 2007

House Members Discuss “Motion to Instruct”

 

House members just finished a debate on a “Motion to instruct the House conferees on SB 1846.”  The debate focused on the desire of the House to appropriate a 6.7% State contribution to the TRS pension fund and the reality that is the budgeted amount for the TRS pension fund.

 

It was argued that a motion to instruct House conferees on this issue will limit their ability to negotiate with the Senate on how to fund an actuarially sound pension fund and provide a 13th check to retirees. 

 

TRTA is encouraged to know that all persons who spoke either for or against the motion to instruct ALL underscored the need to provide retirees a 13th check.

 

The debate over if there is funding in the budget or if funding may be available through some other bill (HB 15 was mentioned in the debate) will continue into tomorrow as the House has indicated that the budget should be eligible to be heard around 4:30 PM on Sunday.  Representative Lois Kolkhorst, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education and an HB 1 budget conferee, indicated that the State budget appropriation amount of 6.58% “is where the budget is.” 

 

There was discussion over some other compromise, but those details have not been made available. 

 

The motion to instruct House conferees on SB 1846 failed on a vote of 58 to 85.  Many of you may wonder is this is good or bad for retired educators, but the answer is more grey than black and white.  A motion to instruct may very well have jeopardized the possibility of a 13th check for retired educators, but at the same time, TRTA wants to see the State put in the highest appropriation possible for TRS without sacrificing that 13th check. 

 

TRTA members may be needed one more time to push a compromise bill before this session is over.  So much depends on the Legislature’s ability to agree to and adopt a State budget. 

 

Correction

 

In the most recent TRTA Inside Line update, TRTA listed Representative Mike Villarreal as a House conferee on SB 1846.  Representative Villarreal is no longer a conferee on that bill and has been replaced by Representative Jim Keffer.

 

Updates will be posted as new information is available.

 

 

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