TRS Benefits Could See Major Cuts

Texas Teacher Retirement System Benefits Could See Major Cuts

Send Your Legislators a Message—We Need a Fair Deal on TRS Benefits, Not Another Raw Deal: A bill to cut already-earned TRS benefits for hundreds of thousands of school employees could come up for a Senate vote any day now.   Please take the opportunity NOW to write again to your senator and representative to oppose the committee substitutes for SB 1458 and HB 1884 and to urge the legislature to:

--reject the take-away of already-earned pension benefits from current employees;
--increase the state’s contribution rate to TRS, as recommended by TRS actuaries, to 6.9 percent in fiscal 2014 and 7.4 percent in fiscal 2015;
--require any increase in the employee contribution rate to be gradual and to be matched by increases in the state contribution rate; and
--provide an immediate benefit enhancement such as a 13th check for all retirees, not just for a small minority as proposed in SB 1458 and HB 1884.

Urge your senator and representative to demand a fair deal on TRS benefits now!

TRS Benefit Cuts Could See Key Committee Vote April 15, 2013 —Act Now:  If you haven’t sent your state senator an e-letter yet against TRS benefit cuts proposed in Committee Substitute SB 1458 by Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock), do it now. A Senate State Affairs Committee vote on the bill could come as early as Monday, April 15.

That vote may occur even though committee members and stakeholders have yet to see important details of the actuarial impact of each change proposed in CSSB 1458. The most significant benefit cut in the bill, adversely affecting a large percentage of current school employees, would raise the minimum age for retirement with full, unreduced benefits to 62. A grandfather clause would exempt those who by August 31, 2014, have reached the age of 50, or have 25 years of service credit, or meet a rule of 70 (years of age and service credit combined equaling at least 70).  But the legislation still would take away already-earned benefits from hundreds of thousands of current school employees.


An identical companion bill, Committee Substitute HB 1884 by Rep. Bill Callegari (R-Katy), awaits further action in the House Pensions Committee. Your representative and senator need to know what you think of these bills to cut TRS benefits. Once you have sent them your e-letter from the Texas AFT Web site, you should follow up on Monday with a phone call on our toll-free line to the state capitol—1-888-836-8368—and urge your senator and representative to oppose the TRS benefit cuts in CSSB 1458 and CSHB 1884.