Progress made on key fronts but push for pay and pension funding continues
During this session, the Big 3 – Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen – attempted to set a more harmonious tone than past sessions. This change in tactic was a direct result of 14 anti-state worker legislators losing their seats in elections last year with the help of TSEU members across the state. Anti-state worker priorities, such as stripping state employees of our right to pay union dues out of our paychecks, were hardly a whisper the entire session.
The Legislature began this session with good news from the State Comptroller: an additional $9 billion would be available compared to the last biennium. This lead many to hope that lawmakers would finally address critical needs of the state, such as higher education, state services, and state employee pay and pensions, that have long been ignored. However, the major focus for lawmakers quickly became school finance reform and property tax cuts. In the end, lawmakers failed to address the crisis levels of turnover facing state services, the stagnant salary and benefit levels in state universities and agencies, and the underfunding of our ERS pensions. Instead, legislators chose to not dip into the state’s Rainy Day Fund and gave away $5 billion in property tax cuts which, besides starving the state of needed revenue, will mostly benefit the very wealthy and large corporations.
Pay Raises:
TSEU members across Texas mobilized to pressure legislators to provide an across the board $6,000/year pay raise to all state agency and university employees. Thousands of postcards and phone calls were delivered to every member of the Legislature on top of hundreds of office visits throughout the session.
After early signs that a pay raise was in the works, lawmakers cut the funding for most state employee pay raises out of the budget in the very final days of the session. The first versions of the House and Senate budgets differed considerably when it came to state employee pay. Both contained various targeted raises, with the house version containing at least a 2.8% raise for most employees. On the final day of the session, however, lawmakers passed a budget with no across-the-board raise and much less for the targeted raises than had been in the initial proposals. Targeted raises remained for Adult Protective Services, DFPS Statewide intake, Parole Officers, TJJD JCO’s/Youth Development Coaches and Case Managers, and direct care staff at the School for the Blind (TSBVI) and the School for the Deaf (TSD).
The fact that lawmakers had just received a $4,300/year pay raise themselves in January shows just how hypocritical they were in stripping out state employee raises. We cannot wait another two years for our pay raises! TSEU is continuing the fight for an emergency pay raise for all state workers who are not receiving a targeted pay raise already! See the back page of this Update for details.
Pensions:
Again, TSEU successfully defeated attempts to convert our defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution, 401k-style plans. Senator Paul Bettencourt filed SB 2428 which would have authorized ERS and TRS to establish defined contribution or hybrid plans. With pressure from TSEU and allies, this bill did not even receive a hearing. Victory!
Several proposals, supported by TSEU, were floated by Comptroller Glenn Hegar and others to divert revenue from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to critical funding needs like the ERS and TRS pensions. Although these proposals received strong support in the House, they were rejected in the Senate and did not pass.
ERS:
In response to long-running pressure from TSEU, the House proposed a plan to increase the state contribution to ERS by $150 million and increase the agency contribution by .5%. This would have removed the current depletion date of 2096 and put it on the road to be fully funded by 2060. In order to provide ERS retirees with a cost of living increase, the pension must be within 31 years of being 100% funded. This means we would have been very close to finally winning a much-needed COLA for ERS retirees. Similar to the pay raises, the funding for ERS was stripped from the final version of the budget a day before it was voted on and the session ended. TSEU is continuing the fight for more funding for ERS.
See the back page of this Update for details.
TRS:
With pressure from union members, lawmakers voted to gradually increase the state’s contribution to 8.25%, the employee contribution to 8.25% and the employer contribution to 2%. This puts the fund on a path to actuarial soundness and most importantly providing a 13th check to current TRS retirees. The downside is the increase to the employee contribution to the pension. TSEU will continue the fight in state universities for an across-the-board raise to more than offset the increased pension cost. (partial) Victory!
Health care benefits:
ERS health care benefits were fully funded this session, with no planned benefit changes. There will also be no increases to employee contribution rates for individual or dependent health care coverage. Victory!
University of Texas and Texas A&M system health benefits were fully funded. Victory!
Parole:
The findings of a recent TSEU survey showed many parole officers’ caseloads were exceeding the statutory maximums that TSEU pushed through the Legislature in 2007. The TSEU survey directly resulted in HB4754 being filed by Rep. Ray Lopez, and was cited in both the House and Senate as the reason for the bill. This bill directs TDCJ to study caseloads and determine if the agency is requesting enough funds to meet the caseload maximums. HB4754 passed both bodies of the Legislature late in the session and has been signed into law by the Governor. This will give the agency caseload information vital in requesting additional funding and more Parole Officer positions for lower caseloads next session. Victory!
SSLC Closures:
State Supported Living Centers were under attack yet again this session. Rep. Stephanie Klick filed HB 3080 which would have created a plan for immediate closure of Austin SSLC and begin studying additional closures. Working with parent groups and other allies, TSEU was able to stop the bill from being heard in committee. Victory!
HB4400 was filed by Rep. Julie Johnson, which would have stripped $10 million in funding from SSLC’s to create a pilot program for expanding community based group homes. TSEU and allied groups met with Rep. Johnson to discuss alternatives that did not included the removal of funding from SSLC’s. This bill did not get out of committee. Victory!
OTHER KEY BILLS:
State Agency Bills:
- HB 1233 by Rep. Ryan Guillen and SB 111 by Sen. Jose Menendez to establish a salary career ladder for all state employees. Didn’t get a hearing in State Affairs Committees.
– TSEU Supported - HB 74 by Rep. Gina Hinojosa, SB 446 by Sen. Royce West to notify state employees of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Passed the House but failed in Senate State Affairs Committee. This bill was written as a result of TSEU’s Student Debt Clinics.
– TSEU Supported
Healthcare and Pension bills:
- HB 425 and 426 by Rep. Alma Allen to provide COLA’s for ERS and TRS retirees. Didn’t get House, Senate Comm. hearings.
– TSEU Supported - HB 2414 by Rep. Philip Cortez to change the Texas saver 401k program from an opt-out to an opt-in for new state employees. Passed out of the House Pensions Committee but didn’t make it out of the full House.
– TSEU Supported - HB 596 by Rep. Ana Hernandez to allow a retiree to serve on the ERS Board of Trustees. Passed out of the full House unanimously but died in the Senate State Affairs Committee.
– TSEU Supported - HB 3662 by Rep. Armando Walle to restore a higher education seat on the TRS Board. Received a hearing in the House Pensions Committee but not voted out.
– TSEU Supported - HB 4101 by Rep. Terry Meza would remove the waiting period for new state employees to receive healthcare benefits. Did not get a hearing in the House Pensions Committee.
– TSEU Supported - HB 183 by Rep. Phil Stephenson to study the use of life insurance policies on plan members to supplement the funding of the TRS pension fund. Passed House, but no action in Senate
– TSEU opposed
DFPS Bills:
- HB 988 by Rep. Armando Walle to establish caseload standards for DFPS. A hearing was held in the House Human Services Committee but it was not voted out.
– TSEU Supported - HB 1362 by Rep. Gene Wu to study and determine appropriate caseloads for DFPS. Passed the full House with strong support, passed out of Senate Human Services Committee but was not voted on in full Senate.
– TSEU Supported - HB 2592 by Rep. Philip Cortez to restore the grievance procedure in DFPS and HHSC. Did not get a hearing in the House Human Services Committee.
– TSEU Supported
University Bills:
- HB 3240 by Rep. Terry Meza to study long term effects of regulating tuition. Passed out of House Higher Education Committee but did not get a vote in the full House.
– TSEU Supported - HB 132 by Rep. Mary Gonzalez to re-regulate tuition. Had a hearing in the House Higher Ed. Committee but not voted on.
– TSEU Supported
State Hospital/SSLC Bills:
- HB 3596 by Rep. Toni Rose to increase compensation for high injury risk positions in SSLC’s and State Hospitals. No hearing held in House Human Services Committee.
– TSEU Supported
TJJD Bills:
- HB 2743 by Rep. Roland Gutierrez and SB 2057 by Sen. Jose Menendez to include TJJD Officers in the LECOSRF supplemental retirement plan. No Hearing in House Pensions or Senate State Affairs Committee.
– TSEU Supported