TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--NOVEMBER 17, 2009   Status Report: Will TRS Retirees Get Their $500 Supplemental Check?   Last May the legislature approved a one-time payment of $500 to recipients of Teacher Retirement System pension annuities, to "be implemented, if possible, by December 31, 2009." This modest sum obviously doesn't even come close to the catch-up cost-of-living increase retirees deserve and have been waiting for since 2001. Such a catch-up increase would need to make up for a decline of roughly 20 percent in the real value of TRS pensions, eroded by inflation over the past eight years. Nonetheless, the $500 would be a real help to retired school employees.   However, even this modest benefit has yet to be delivered, because it came with strings attached. Last May, lawmakers made the disbursement of the $500 checks conditional on issuance of an opinion by the state attorney general affirming the legality of these payments under the state constitution and statutes. You may recall that this provision was the brainchild of Sen. Robert Duncan, the Lubbock Republican who chairs the Texas Senate committee that has jurisdiction over TRS matters. If the payments are not approved, Duncan's provision requires the money (about $120 million) to be transferred to the TRS pension fund, which would increase the state contribution rate to an estimated 6.644 percent from the current 6.4 percent.   The legislature's formal request for the attorney general's opinion was dated May 28, 2009. Texas AFT promptly filed a legal brief in support of the authority of the legislature to make the payments.   The AG's office says most opinions are issued within 180 days of the request, but the amount of time required may vary...." The 180-day limit will be reached one week from today, right before Thanksgiving.   TRS annuitants have waited long enough. They need an answer without further delay. We'll report on any action by the AG's office as soon as it becomes known. And we will keep pressing the legislature for both the increased state contributions to the TRS fund and the cost-of-living increases that retirees deserve.