State Agencies Undergo Sunset Review – Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner
Over the past couple of months or so, I have been outlining Texas’ sunset review process. The agencies I have covered so far include the Texas Facilities Commission, the Texas Pension Review Board, the Department of Information Resources and many others. As a reminder, in order to identify and eliminate government waste, duplication and general inefficiencies in state agencies, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission in 1977. The sunset review process is designed to review each of these agencies every twelve years. This review is done by taking up a certain number of the state agencies each session when the Texas Legislature convenes.
In last week’s article we examined the Texas Facilities Commission which is tasked with and responsible for over 100 state agencies and located in roughly more than 290 cities throughout the State of Texas. They provide for the planning, provision and management of these agencies’ facilities. In this week’s article, we are going to review the Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner.
The Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner was first established in 1937 during the Great Depression by the passage of the Local Fire Fighters’ Retirement Act. The agency was formed in order to help local fire departments administer their local pension plans and to help oversee their operations. The agencies’ website outlines the Commissioner’s mission as “to provide effective and sound benefits to volunteer departments under Texas Emergency Services Retirement System (TESRS) and to volunteer and paid departments under Texas Local Fire Fighters’ Retirement Act (TLFFRA).” In 1937, when the agency was first formed, the TLFFRA and TESRS were initially handled under one system. In 1977, the TESRS was separated from the TLFFRA and then the volunteer monies became a pooled pension fund.
The Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner provides a number of functions to the TLFFRA which supports 122 separate pension plans. The functions that they provide to the TLFFRA are outlined on their website as follows: “agency’s staff provides investment and legal guidance for local boards; provides opinions; hears appeals of local board decisions; maintains all personnel records for fire fighter members and departments; classifies and coordinates annual reports; verifies all benefit amounts; provides education and training seminars; and assists in providing guidance in the professional management of the local funds. ”
While the Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner provides assistance to 122 separate pension plans under the TLFFRA, the TESRS administers one pension plan in which 214 departments participate. It is important to note that each participating department has a local board. With the 214 departments participating in one large pension plan, they are able to utilize a cost-effective means to have and be part of a professionally managed fund in which smaller volunteer departments may not otherwise have access. In order for the Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner to administer the fund, they take the contributions of those departments which participate in the fund, invest the proceeds of the members, calculate the benefits of its members and provide payments to the funds retirees and beneficiaries.
If you are interested in learning more about the Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner, you can go to their website at www.ffpc.state.tx.us. On the agency’s site you can learn about its functions and the commissioner overseeing the agency, along with other information you may be interested in.
Some of the other agencies we will review in the upcoming weeks include the State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee, and a number of other agencies currently going through a partial sunset review process.
If you would like to learn more on your own about the Sunset Advisory Commission or other agencies undergoing the sunset review process, you can go to www.sunset.state.tx.us .
