I hope that the new year has begun well for you.  I want to inform you of the ongoing work of the Texas Association of Retired, Senior and Former Judges (TARSFJ).
Your TARSFJ executive leadership team has continued to work with our lobbyist, Dale Laine, in our mission to secure an increase in judicial retirement compensation.  Going into the 89th Legislative Session which started this month, it became apparent that if we are to have any success in securing an increase in judicial retirement, we must adjust our expectations.  Tying judicial retirement increases to active judge salaries, as we did last session, has not met with favor by the Legislature or the Employees Retirement System of Texas.  This has required your leadership team to suggest alternatives to address an increase in retirement annuities.  Each of these alternatives would require an appropriation.  No bill would be needed.
One alternative is for ERS to recalculate annuities and make an annuity adjustment of fifteen percent (15%), with half of that effective in FY 2026 and the remaining half effective in FY 2027.  These one-time annuity increases would be permanent.
Another alternative request is for the Legislature to fund two 13th checks, one for each year of the 2026-2027 biennium.
A third alternative is for the Legislature to appropriate one 13th check and then include a yearly cost of living adjustment (COLA) not to exceed three percent (3%).
We are reminding the Legislature as well that our challenge is exacerbated by ERS’s 30-year lifetime actuarial methodology for all ERS participants.  While the 30-year timeline might be appropriate for retirees from other state agencies, it is not appropriate for the state judiciary.  Most judges do not go on the bench until their late 30’s or 40’s, and some into their 50’s.  Data shows that the average retirement age of a judge is 63 years old.  We believe that adhering to a 30-year timeline for judicial retirees is not appropriate. 
In addition to an increase in judicial retirement, our efforts this year include support for an increase in the amount of compensation for our senior, retired and former judges sitting by assignment.  The Presiding Regional Judges are taking the lead in seeking this increase, and we will support that request.