AUSTIN, TX — Today, the Texas Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 10 by Senator Joan Huffman and Joint-Authored by Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa. This bill, if passed by the Texas House and approved by the Governor, would provide a one-time 13th check of $7,500 to eligible Teacher Retirement System (TRS) retirees who are at least 75 years old. It would also provide a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for members who retired on or after September 1, 2013, and 4% for members who retired before that date.

Senator Hinojosa released the following statement:

“The Texas Senate continues to make significant investments in the Teacher Retirement System to ensure that the system is actuarially sound and can guarantee that our retired school employees receive the retirement paycheck they worked hard to earn. Over the past two years we have heard from our retired teachers who are on fixed income and are suffering because inflation has reduced their purchasing power.

“This session, I am honored to joint author SB 10 to support our retired school employees. We are using part of the historic budget surplus to fund a long overdue cost-of-living adjustment. The Senate’s proposed budget, SB 1, allocates $4.7 billion in General Revenue which includes $3.323 billion for the cost-of-living pay increases and $1.394 billion for the $7,500 one-time payment to retirees that are age 75 or older.

“I appreciate the leadership of Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman for authoring this bill and our Lt. Governor Dan Patrick for making SB 10 a priority bill for the Texas Senate. I look forward to supporting this bill as it moves through the legislative process.

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