S.B. No. 1413

	AN ACT
	relating to the administration of retirement systems for paid,
	partly paid, or volunteer firefighters.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (b), Section 19, Texas Local
	Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
	Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  In each municipality and other political subdivision to
	which this Act applies and that has a fire department that does not
	consist exclusively of volunteers, the fire fighters' retirement
	system is governed by a board of trustees consisting of:
	(1)  in a municipality, the mayor [of the municipality]
	or the mayor's designated representative; in an emergency services
	district, the president of the board of emergency services
	commissioners; or in another political subdivision, the chief
	operating officer [of the political subdivision] or the chief
	operating officer's designated representative, as applicable;
	(2)  the chief financial officer of the municipality or
	other political subdivision or, if there is no officer denominated
	as chief financial officer, the person who performs the duties of
	chief financial officer or a person designated by the chief
	financial officer or by the person performing the duties of chief
	financial officer;
	(3)  three members of the retirement system elected by
	participating members as provided by Subsection (b) of this
	section; and
	(4)  two persons who reside in this state [in the
	municipality or other political subdivision or within the
	extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality], who are not
	officers or employees of the municipality or other political
	subdivision, and who are elected by a majority vote of the members
	of the board of trustees determined as provided by Subdivisions
	(1), (2), and (3) of this subsection.
	(b)  During each period that begins on December 1 of one year
	and ends on January 31 of the following year, the participating
	members of a fire fighters' retirement system in a municipality or
	other political subdivision subject to this section shall elect by
	secret ballot and certify to the governing body of the municipality
	or other political subdivision a member to the board of trustees to
	serve a term of three years.  To be elected a member of a board of
	trustees under this subsection, a person must be a participating
	member of the retirement system and receive a majority of the votes
	cast in the election, and at least 50 percent of all participating
	members of the retirement system must vote in the election.
	Provided, however, that if only a single person is nominated for the
	board of trustees position being filled, that person may be elected
	by acclamation by those participating members present for the
	election meeting, without the necessity of a secret ballot.
	SECTION 2.  Subsection (b), Section 25, Texas Local Fire
	Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
	Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  The annual amount of payments from a fund under this
	section, excluding legal and medical fees, may not exceed:
	(1)  1 percent of the market [book] value of the assets
	of the fund for the first $1 million in market [book] value; and
	(2)  1/4 of 1 percent of the market [book] value of the
	assets of the fund that exceeds $1 million.
	SECTION 3.  Subsections (b) and (c), Section 30, Texas Local
	Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
	Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
	(b)  Contributions picked up as provided by this section
	shall be treated as employer contributions in determining tax
	treatment of the amounts under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
	[Each municipality or other political subdivision picking up
	contributions shall continue, however, to compute federal income
	tax withholding as if these contributions were employee wages until
	the first payroll period that begins after the date the fire
	fighters' pension commissioner files with the secretary of state a
	notice stating that the United States Internal Revenue Service has
	determined or a federal court has ruled that under Section 414(h),
	Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 414(h)), the
	contributions are not includable in the gross income of a member
	until they are distributed or made available.] Employee
	contributions picked up as provided by this section shall be
	deposited to the credit of the individual account of each affected
	member and shall be treated for all other purposes of this Act as if
	the contributions had been deducted from the compensation of
	members. Picked up contributions are not includable in a
	computation of contribution rates of the municipality or other
	political subdivision.
	(c)  A pick up of employee contributions takes effect in a
	municipality or other political subdivision on January 1 of the
	year following the year in which:
	(1)  the governing body of the municipality or other
	political subdivision by ordinance has adopted the pick up; and
	(2)  the pick up has been approved by majority vote of
	the participating members of the retirement system at an election
	by secret ballot at which at least 50 percent of the participating
	members vote[; and
	[(3) the fire fighters' pension commissioner has filed
	with the secretary of state a notice stating that the United States
	Internal Revenue Service has issued a determination that the plan
	covering employees of the municipality or other political
	subdivision is a qualified retirement plan under Section 401(a),
	Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 401(a)), and that
	its related trust is tax exempt under Section 501(a) of that code
	(26 U.S.C. Section 501(a))].
	SECTION 4.  Subsection (e), Section 19, Texas Local Fire
	Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil
	Statutes), is repealed.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1413 passed the Senate on
	May 3, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1413 passed the House on
	May 22, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 148, Nays 0, two
	present not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor