Human Resource Related
HB 522 by Woolley/Duncan - Relating to adoption and operation of requirements regarding health benefit plan identification cards. HB 522 establishes an advisory committee to develop data elements required to be made available by health plan issuers and administrators. This will, in turn, enable physicians and other providers to generate requests for eligibility information at point of service. This group will also make recommendations regarding "smart cards", etc. A final report must be issued by 12-1-2008.
HB 590 by Delisi/Zaffirini - Relating to standards of conduct for and conflicts of interest of state officers and employees. HB 590 provides that state officers or employees having a conflict of interest in violation of state law or the state agency’s ethics policy is subject to termination or discipline, and the officer or employee may also be subject to civil or criminal penalties under other statutes or rules. State agencies are required to adopt an ethics policy, not later than January 1, 2008, that is consistent with Subchapter C, Chapter 572, Texas Government Code. Also, state agencies must distribute the policy and the relevant state statute to new officers and employees within three business days of beginning employment or qualifying for office, and agencies must also distribute such items to each agency employee by January 1, 2008. HB 590 tasks the Office of the Attorney General with developing, not later than November 1, 2007, a model policy that state agencies may use. If a person reports to an appropriate prosecuting attorney a violation of agency ethics policy that is also a criminal offense, the prosecuting attorney is required to notify the Texas Ethics Commission of the status of the investigation within 60 days of the person’s report. The Commission shall assist the prosecuting attorney’s investigation upon request.
HB 1275 by McClendon/Rose/Uresti - Relating to the appeal by an individual entitled to a veteran’s preference of certain adverse employment decisions. HB 1275 provides that an individual entitled to a veteran’s employment preference under state law who is aggrieved by a hiring or retention decision of a public entity or state public work may appeal the decision. The appeal must be filed as a written complaint with the governing body of the public entity or public work. The governing body must respond to the complaint not later than the 15th business day after receiving the complaint. The governing body may render a different hiring decision than the one appealed if the governing body determines that the preference was not applied. A public entity is now required to include in its quarterly veterans preference report filed with the Comptroller the number of complaints filed and resolved during the quarter.
HB 1919 by Davis/Van de Putte - Relating to health benefit plan coverage for treatment for certain brain injuries and serious mental illnesses. HB 1919 requires coverage for non-standard services such as community reintegration, post-acute transition services, and various types of cognitive and behavioral therapy necessary as related to an acquired brain injury. This legislative change must be provided to participants in writing on an annual basis. The bill also requires coverage for generally recognized services for children between the ages of two and six who are diagnosed with autism. Coverage beyond six is at the discretion of the group.
HB 2015 by Smithee/Duncan – Relating to the reporting of claim information under certain group health plans; providing administrative penalties. HB 2015 provides requirements for health plan issuers to provide governmental entities with requested claim information within certain timeframes or incur penalties. The bill also provides that a report of claim information as provided under the bill is confidential and exempt from public disclosure.
HB 2427 by Truitt/Whitmire - Relating to the continuation and functions of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas; providing penalties. HB 2427 primarily affects public school district employees. However, one change that affects future TRS disability retirees requires that if an individual on TRS disability retirement receives compensation from employment that, when combined with their retirement annuity is greater than their income before retirement, their annuity would be reduced on a sliding scale.
HB 3322 by Truitt/Watson - Relating to a plan-to-plan transfer of certain assets from the TexaSaver 457 plan administered by the Employees Retirement System of Texas to a 457 plan created by an institution of higher education. The 78th Legislature authorized an institution of higher education to create and administer a deferred compensation savings plan under Section 457 of the federal IRS code. Under a Section 457 plan, governmental employees are authorized to save for retirement by deferring compensation on a pre-tax basis through payroll deductions. Acting under the authority granted by the statute, a board of regents could establish such a plan for its employees. Prior to that, the only Section 457 plan available to those employees was the TexaSaver Program offered by the Employees Retirement System. An IRS limitation on account transfers prohibits active university employees from transferring assets from the TexaSaver Program to an institution’s Section 457 plan before severance from employment. However, federal law authorizes a plan-to-plan transfer of all plan assets from one eligible governmental plan to another within the same state.
HB 3322 facilitates the plan-to-plan transfer authorized by federal law such that the assets of the TexaSaver Program that belong to an institution’s employees are transferred to that institution’s Section 457 plan.
SB 11 by Carona/Corte - Relating to homeland security and protection of the public, including protections against human trafficking; providing penalties. SB 211 provides, in relevant part, that a state employee holding an amateur radio station license may be granted leave up to 10 days each fiscal year to participate in specialized disaster relief services without any deduction in salary or loss of leave if the Governor and the employee’s supervisor approve the leave. The number of state employees eligible for this leave is capped at 350 employees at any one time during a fiscal year. The Governor’s Division of Emergency Management is tasked with coordinating the establishment and maintenance of the list of eligible employees. Also, SB 11 provides that state officers or employees who are members of a state or federally authorized Urban Search and Rescue Team (Texas Task Force 1 under the Texas Engineering Extension Service) are eligible for paid leave for time engaged in authorized training or duty not to exceed 15 workdays per federal fiscal year. These state officers or employees are also protected against any loss of time or leave, and are entitled to be restored to the position held prior to being ordered to duty.
SB 22 by Nelson/ Delisi - Relating to long-term care insurance and a partnership for long-term care program and to the eligibility for certain home and community-based services. HB 22 pertains to the partnership for long-term care program, part of the medical assistance program. It deals with “asset disregard” for individuals eligible for medical assistance for long-term care services. If an individual is covered by the TAMUS Long-Term Care program, medial assistance would not be considered until benefits were exhausted under the TAMUS Long-Term Care plan.
SB 737 by Williams/Kolkhorst - Relating to the amount of hazardous duty pay for certain state employees. SB 737 provides, in relevant part, that a full-time state employee, including a commissioned peace officer of an institution of higher education, may be eligible for hazardous duty pay in the amount of $10 for each 12-month period of accrued lifetime service credit, as determined on the last day of the preceding month. This amount is no longer subject to a $300 cap. Officers receiving hazardous duty pay before August 1987 for state service before May 29th of that year no longer have part of the amount capped at $300.
SB 1846 by Duncan/Truitt - Relating to funding for, and benefits provided under, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. The bill would allow the Teacher Retirement System to require that the rate of contribution to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) retirement trust fund by active members be increased up to 6.58 percent if a supplemental benefit payment is authorized by the legislature and TRS determines that after paying the supplemental benefit payment the funding period of the pension trust fund would exceed 30 years by one or more years. The bill would stipulate that the state contribution rate may not be lower than the active member contribution rate and that the state contribution rate shall be 6.58 percent for the 2008-09 biennium. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has also increased the ORP rate to the same level.
The bill would exempt school districts and institutions of higher education from return-to-work retiree employer surcharge payments for retirees who retired before September 1, 2005.
The bill would direct TRS to make a one-time supplemental benefit payment to eligible annuitants in September 2007 equal the lesser of $2,400 or the amount of the regular annuity payment to which annuitants are entitled for August 2007. The bill would allow TRS to delay payment in order to allow the determination of actuarial soundness and to determine whether an increase in the active member rate, as permitted by the bill, is warranted
