Pensions, Investments, and Financial Services Committee Discusses SB 10

House Pensions Committee to Discuss SB 10, TRS Board to Meet

The House Pensions, Investments, and Financial Services (PIFS) Committee met on September 19 to discuss the implementation of Senate Bill 10. As members of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) may recall, SB 10 is the bill that passed during the 88^th Texas Legislature that provided for benefit enhancements for hundreds of thousands of TRS retirees.

PIFS Committee Chair Giovanni Capriglione opened discussion on SB 10 by saying the bill provided for a “much needed and much deserved COLA for our retired teachers,” expressing that TRS retirees went far too long without receiving one.

TRS Deputy Director Caasi Lamb testified as a resource witness. She said that after the passage of SB 10, the TRS pension fund remains actuarially sound. Every year, TRS receives a valuation that indicates the overall health of the system. The valuation for FY 2024 will be presented at the December TRS Board of Trustees meeting.

Lamb said that preliminary estimates show the value of the fund is approximately $210 billion, and the fund expects a return on investment in excess of 12 percent. Lamb also outlined the following figures to indicate the number of TRS retirees who received the stipends and COLAs passed via SB 10.

TRTA Testimony

TRTA Executive Director Tim Lee testified at the hearing and began his comments by reflecting on the positive actions of 88^th Legislature.

“Think of a retiree, friend, family member, or constituent from your hometown who benefitted from this,” Lee said.

After experiencing the “highest inflation in modern times,” Lee said that the financial pressure caused retirees to “prioritize every penny” and “cut out things we take for granted.”

Prior to the passage of SB 10 and constitutional amendment for Prop 9, the majority of TRS retirees had never had a pension increase. Most are also impacted by the arbitrary Social Security provisions, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).

A great deal of financial pain falls on the backs of TRS retirees; and as so many do not receive their earned Social Security benefits, they did not receive the raises associated with Social Security and got no financial relief from the exploding costs of goods and services.

Lee applauded the Texas Legislature for recognizing this disparity, saying “many of you committed to helping retirees as much as possible” during the 88^th Legislative Session.

In addition to passing SB 10 unanimously, the Legislature opted to use available state revenue to pay for the stipends and COLAs instead of funding the increases through the pension fund. This brought about the need from Texas voters to approve the funding.

“Prop 9 was the first-ever attempt at constitutional authorization for a benefit increase for Texas education retirees,” said Lee. He noted that TRTA provided 16,000 yard signs, more than a quarter of a million push cards, and thousands of buttons to TRTA members in a statewide campaign to support Prop 9’s passage.

He added that tremendous support also came “from our friends in the education space, local businesses, community groups, civics groups, and elected officials,” adding that many legislators sent letters, hosted rallies, and even produced television commercials to support the ballot initiative. “It was awesome!” Lee said.

Many TRTA members learned as a result of this campaign that the general public was mostly unaware that TRS retirees do not receive Social Security benefits or regular increases in their modest pensions.

TRTA members also learned, said Lee, that voters viewed helping retired educators “not as a partisan issue, but a Texas imperative—it’s just the right thing to do!”

In fact, Prop 9 won more voter support than any other amendment on the ballot, a truly historic achievement! Lee added that TRTA and its members are proud of everyone who worked so hard to help TRS retirees.

Lee closed out his comments by saying, “working on issues connected to TRS is mostly about knowing we are not typically fixing a problem—it is more about managing very delicate balances between funding for the system, the legislature’s authority over benefit enhancements, and the management of the retiree’s TRS-Care health insurance program.” He added that “consistent management of these important issues, especially when all the stars align for action to be taken to benefit retirees, the system, or future education retirees, should always be considered whenever possible.”

Lee thanked legislators for still caring about TRS retirees in their districts and promised to work with the Legislature to find all opportunities possible to help retirees.

Thank You!

Thank you for being a member of TRTA. We are asking members to please renew their dues with TRTA if they have not done so already. If you know someone who is not a member, please invite them to join us! There is strength in numbers and the surest way for us to accomplish success is to grow the organization.