HBA-TBM H.B. 1849 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1849 By: King, Phil Pensions & Investments 4/27/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE On February 15, 1999, Brian Collins and Phillip Dean died while fighting a fire at the Precious Faith Temple in Lake Worth. The two men, both career firefighters for Fort Worth, were serving as volunteers for the River Oaks Fire Department. Collins was the father of two children; his wife was pregnant with their third. Dean's wife gave birth to their first child five days after his death. This tragedy received more attention when the board of trustees of the Employees' Retirement System of Fort Worth (board) interpreted an ambiguous city ordinance to mean that benefits for death in the line of duty should be awarded only to those who are killed while working for Fort Worth and decided to deny full death benefits to the families of the two men. As a result of this ruling, some dedicated professional firefighters are reevaluating their commitment to volunteer fire departments, a potential disaster for many small communities surrounding Fort Worth that are served by volunteer fire departments composed largely of professional firefighters from Fort Worth. The City of Fort Worth is currently the only major city in Texas that does not have an independent police and fire fighter retirement fund. Fort Worth also has the only major retirement system in Texas governed by city ordinance rather than state legislation. The city ordinance allows the board to amend policies, including eligibility requirements and benefits, without the consent of the city council or the members of the retirement system. House Bill 1849 authorizes the police officers and firefighters of certain cities to separate from the municipal retirement system and create a retirement system specifically for police officers and firefighters. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 1849 allows firefighters and police officers (public safety employees) who are members of a retirement system with 500 or more public safety employees to separate from the retirement system and create a retirement system (system) solely for firefighters, police officers, or firefighters and police officers (SECTION 1). The bill establishes procedures by which public safety employees are authorized to petition for the creation of a separate system and provides for the creation of the system and the retirement board of trustees (board) (SECTION 3). The bill sets forth provisions regarding the composition and term of office of the board members (SECTION 4). The bill provides that any retirement system separating from a municipal retirement system and creating a separate system is governed by the rules and regulations, procedures, benefits, and document (regulations) of and has the same authority as the municipal retirement system until the new board adopts new regulations (SECTION 5). The bill sets forth provisions regarding the authority of the board to make expenditures, hire staff, and rent, lease, or purchase office space and equipment (SECTION 6). The bill provides for basic modifications of the system related to benefits, eligibility requirements, and participation rate (SECTIONS 7, 8, and 9). The bill sets forth provisions regarding the transfer of funds from the original retirement system to the new system (SECTION 10). The bill provides for reasonable separation costs from an existing fund, the creation of a trust fund, and the recovery of wrongly obtained funds (SECTIONS 11, 12, and 13). The board is authorized to subpoena witnesses and documents, administer oaths, examine witnesses, and require testimony in any matter affecting the system or benefits, eligibility, participation, procedures, or contributions (SECTION 14). EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.