Judges: GREG ABBOTT, Attorney General of Texas
Filed Date: 8/17/2004
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
The Honorable Ray Allen Chair, Committee on Corrections Texas House of Representatives Post Office Box 2910 Austin, Texas 78768-2910
Re: Whether, under section
Dear Representative Allen:
Section
At present, and until September 1, 2004, CSCD employees' benefits are provided under a contract with one of the counties that the CSCD serves. See id. § 76.006(a). CSCD employees are then governed by the personnel policies of that county, and both employees and retired employees receive benefits "equal to . . . benefits of other employees of that county." Id. On and after September 1, under the version of subsection (c) that will become effective on that date, CSCD employees and retired employees are "eligible to participate in the group benefits program established under" chapter 1551 of the Insurance Code, as provided by section
Chapter 1551, the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act, see Tex. Ins. Code Ann. §
Section 1551.102(b)(2)(A) lists, among the retired employees who are eligible to participate as annuitants in the ERS group benefits program, individuals who retire under ERS jurisdiction and who "receive or [are] eligible to receive an annuity under Section
Under section 1551.114, a CSCD employee or retired employee "shall be treated as an employee [eligible to participate in the ERS group benefits program] or annuitant [eligible to participate in the ERS group benefits program] . . . only as provided by this section." Tex. Ins. Code Ann. §
(1) active employees of a [CSCD];
(2) retired employees of a [CSCD] who retire on or after September 1, 2004, and who:
(A) have been employed by one or more [CSCDs] for a total of at least 10 years of creditable service; and
(B) meet all the requirements for retirement benefits prescribed by the Texas County and District Retirement System; and
(3) eligible dependents of the active employees and retired employees described by Subdivisions (1) and (2).
Id. (emphasis added). A retired employee is eligible to participate in the ERS group benefits program "on application to the" ERS board of trustees. Id. § 1551.114(f). "On application," the employee automatically receives ERS "basic coverage for annuitants unless the retired employee specifically waives coverage or unless the retired employee is expelled from the program." Id. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is responsible for paying contributions for CSCDs' retired employees:
A retired employee is not eligible to receive a state contribution . . . for premiums. The community justice assistance division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is responsible for payment of the contributions for each of a department's retired employees and the retired employees' participating dependents that the state would make . . . if the retired employees were retired state employees. Each participating retired employee shall pay that portion of the cost of group coverage selected by the retired employee that exceeds the amount of division contributions. The retired employee shall pay contributions required from the retired employee in the manner prescribed by the [ERS] board of trustees. Each [CSCD] shall notify each of its retired employees of the eligibility for participation and the costs associated with participation.
Id. All contributions received under section 1551.114 from the community justice assistance division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and retired employees "for basic, optional, and voluntary coverages under the [ERS] group benefits program shall be paid into the employees life, accident, and health insurance and benefits fund" and the ERS must use it "to provide those coverages as provided by this chapter." Id. § 1551.114(g).
B. The Statute Creating the Texas County and District RetirementSystem
The Texas County and District Retirement System is established under title 8, subtitle F of the Government Code (chapters 841-845). See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. tit. 8, subtit. F (Vernon 1994 Supp. 2004). Under section 844.102(a)(1) and (2), which sets out general eligibility criteria for County and District Retirement System employees, an employee must be "at least 60 years old and [have] at least 12 years of credited service" or have "at least 30 years of credited service" to receive retirement benefits. Id. § 844.102(a)(1)-(2) (Vernon Supp. 2004). Section 844.102 also recognizes four alternative eligibility criteria that a county and district may choose instead of the general criteria. See id. § 844.102(a)(3).2 For example, section 844.207 applies to subdivisions that began participating in the county and district retirement system after September 1, 1985 and "to all other subdivisions that have adopted" the section's plan provisions. Id. § 844.207(a). Under section 844.207(c), a member who is younger than sixty years old may receive retirement benefits if he or she meets the rule of 80. See id. § 844.207(c)(2). Section 844.210, which applies to any subdivision that adopts its plan provisions, also sets the rule of 80 as a means by which a member younger than sixty years may be eligible to receive retirement benefits. See id. § 844.210(a), (c)(2). Section 844.211, which likewise applies to any subdivision that adopts its plan provisions, establishes a rule of 75 for members less than sixty years old. See id. § 844.211(a), (c)(1). Thus, a member who is less than sixty years old is eligible for retirement benefits if the member "has a sufficient amount of eligible credited service . . . that, when added to the members attained age, equals or exceeds the number 75." Id. § 844.211(c)(1). Finally, under section 844.212, which applies to any subdivision that has adopted its plan provisions, a member is eligible to receive retirement benefits if the member has at least twenty years of "eligible credited service." Id. § 844.212(b)-(c).
Although we have set out all of the provisions of section 1551.114 relating to retired CSCD employees, your question implicates in particular section 1551.114(c)(2)(B), which we have italicized above. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 1-2; supra
p. 3 (quoting section 1551.114(c)(2)(B)). You explain that the ERS has indicated that a retired CSCD employee who has at least ten years of creditable service will be eligible to participate in the ERS group benefits program only if he or she satisfies the "rule of 80." Request Letter, supra note 1, at 1.3 Letters we have received from current employees of the Travis County CSCD indicate that, under the Travis County system, they can retire with benefits when they satisfy the rule of 75.4 After September 1, 2004, however, under the ERS policy you have described, the employees would be able to retire with benefits only if they satisfy the rule of 80. You suggest that the rule of 80 is not necessarily consistent with eligibility standards of the Texas County and District Retirement System and therefore contravenes section
A brief we have received from the ERS contends that it alone has authority to determine questions relating to individuals' eligibility to receive group benefits under chapter 1551.5 While the ERS has statutory authority to determine issues related to enrollment, it may not impose upon CSCD employees standards for participating in the group benefits program as an annuitant that differ from those expressed in section 1551.114. The ERS, as an administrative agency of the state, may not impose requirements additional to those set forth in statute. See Tex. Dep't of Pub.Safety v. Story,
Section 1551.114(c)(2)(B) is not unclear. By its plain terms, the section incorporates as the standard for group benefits participation "the requirements for retirement benefits prescribed by the Texas County and District Retirement System." Tex. Ins. Code Ann. §
Moreover, section 1551.114(b) states, on its face, that a retired CSCD employee "shall be treated as an . . . annuitant only as provided by this section." Tex. Ins. Code Ann. §
Finally, nothing in the 2003 legislation makes CSCD employees "state employees" who would be subject to the eligibility standards set out in section
We conclude, therefore, that, under the explicit terms of section 1551.114(c)(2)(B), a CSCD employee is eligible to participate in the ERS group benefits program under section 1551.114 when the employee satisfies the eligibility standards that have been adopted in the county that currently provides the employee's benefits. For example, a CSCD employee in a county that has implemented the rule of 75 may retire and participate in the ERS group benefits program under section
In accordance with section1551.114 of the Insurance Code, a retiree of a community supervision and corrections department may participate in the Employees Retirement System group benefits program after meeting the requirements of section 1551.114(c)(2), with no further requirements, such as the "rule of 80" set out in section 1551.102.
Very truly yours,
GREG ABBOTT Attorney General of Texas
BARRY MCBEE First Assistant Attorney General
DON R. WILLETT Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
NANCY S. FULLER Chair, Opinion Committee
Kymberly K. Oltrogge Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee
Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System v. ... , 942 S.W.2d 742 ( 1997 )
Texas Department of Public Safety v. Story , 115 S.W.3d 588 ( 2003 )
McMullen v. Employees Retirement System of Texas , 935 S.W.2d 189 ( 1997 )
Railroad Commission of Texas v. Arco Oil & Gas Co. , 876 S.W.2d 473 ( 1994 )