The Texas Senate passed a bill May 14 that would create an optional...

The Texas Senate passed a bill May 14 that would create an optional defined contribution plan for state workers. The bill was referred to the House Pension & Investments Committee. Earlier this month, the bill — sponsored by Sen. Jeffrey Wentworth, R-San Antonio — failed to gain enough support on the Senate floor. Senators had expressed concern that longtime employees would withdraw their money from the state’s defined benefit plan and contribute to the new defined contribution plan. But the bill passed after a floor amendment limited the availability of the optional defined contribution plan to employees who have been in the state pension plan for five or fewer years. In the House, the bill has until midnight Saturday to be reported out of committee, and must be scheduled for hearing by May 25.