HBA-SEB H.B. 2763 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2763 By: Haggerty Pensions and Investments 3/24/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, in cities of 500,000 to 600,000, a person who is transferred involuntarily from a position that does not participate in the pension fund for fire fighters and police officers to a position that does participate in that fund may not elect to remain with the person's original pension fund. The city of El Paso, for example, may merge the city's emergency medical services department and airport rescue department with the city's fire department, and those employees who are transferred to the fire department would not have the option to remain with the city's pension fund. As a result, employees may lose time or credit within a pension fund. H.B. 2763 authorizes a person who is involuntarily transferred from a position that does not participate in the aforementioned fire fighters' and police officers' pension fund to a position that does participate in that fund to elect to continue to be a member of the person's original pension fund. This bill also provides that a public retirement system that elects to participate in the proportionate retirement program, which is a program of proportionate benefits to qualified members of more than one public retirement system, may do so without the approval of the participants of the retirement system making the election. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 803.101(f), Government Code, to provide that an election to participate in the proportionate retirement program does not require the approval of the participants in the public retirement system making the election. SECTION 2. Amends Section 803.003, Government Code, to authorize a person to make an irrevocable election to continue membership in a municipal retirement system if the person is involuntarily transferred from a position included in a retirement system operated by a municipality that does not participate in a statewide retirement system governed by Article 6243b, V.T.C.S. (Firemen and Policemen Pension Fund in Cities of 500,000 to 600,000), to a position included in the coverage of a retirement system governed by that article. Establishes that the decision must be made at the time of transfer and that this authorization applies notwithstanding any other law. Provides that an involuntary transfer is determined by the employment rules that apply to the person immediately before the time of the involuntary transfer. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.