The House Committee on Pensions, Investments, and Financial Services voted unanimously Friday to send House Bill 3507 to the Committee on General Calendars.

House Bill 3507 aims to provide a one-time supplemental retirement check equal to the lessor of their annuity or $2,400 to retirees under the Teacher Retirement System (TRS). Currently, more than 136,000 TRS retirees earn less than $1,000 per month in their annuities, while another 101,000 earn between $1,000 and $2,000. Across the State, the monthly average among all retirees is only $2,118.

“My mother was a history teacher in Graham for over almost 20 years,” Rogers said, “I’ve seen first hand how important educators are to, not just rural communities, but every community across the State of Texas. We need to do more to support retired teachers, and I’m honored that the committee and Chairman Anchia have allowed me to do just that.”

House Bill 3507 will provide direct financial support to hundreds of thousands of teachers across the State of Texas, while also keeping their pension system solvent. The bill continues the work from the 86th Session where HB 1 and SB 12 provided the first 13th Retirement Checks to teachers since 2007. Representative Rogers said he remains optimistic that HB 3507 will be passed by the legislature to provide our retired educators and school staff the much needed financial support.

The legislation has bipartisan support as it heads to the Calendars Committee with fellow Representatives Giovanni Capriglione (R- Southlake), Ryan Guillen (D- Rio Grande City), Phil Stephenson (R-Wharton), and Mary Ann Perez (D-Houston) signing on as joint authors.

“Our work to support retired teachers is far from finished,” Rogers said. “13th checks are important to the thousands of retired teachers in our district and beyond. To be a freshman carrying this legislation is a great sign for things to come.”