| (39) Participation agreement--A contract signed by an employee agreeing to defer the receipt of part of the employee's compensation in accordance with the plan and containing certain information regarding prior plan vendors, investment products, and other matters. (40) Plan--The deferred compensation program of the state of Texas that is governed by the Code §457 and authorized by Chapter 609, Government Code. This plan is a continuation of the plan previously administered by the Comptroller of Public Accounts. (41) Plan administrator--The Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas or its designee. (42) Prior plan--Refers to the State of Texas 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, the vendors and products approved by the Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas prior to September 1, 2000. (43) Prior plan vendor--A vendor in the prior plan with whom the plan administrator has signed a vendor contract. The term includes a prior plan vendor's officers and employees. The prior plan vendor may be an insurance company, bank, savings and loan, credit union, or mutual fund. The term applies only to vendors approved and implemented by the Board of Trustees before January 1, 2000. (44) Product approval notice--A written notice from the plan administrator to a prior plan vendor informing the vendor that a particular investment product has been approved for participation in the plan. (45) Product contract--A contract between an investment provider and the plan administrator concerning the participation of one of the vendor's investment products in the plan. (46) Product type--A categorization of an investment product according to its relevant characteristics. Examples of product types are life insurance products, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, savings accounts, share accounts, stable value account, self-directed brokerage account, and annuities. (47) Public safety employee--Any employee of a state or political subdivision who provides police protection, firefighting services, or emergency medical services for any area within the jurisdiction of such state or political subdivision. It may also include a chaplain or a member of an ambulance or rescue crew. This does not include judges, Texas Department of Criminal Justice guards, probation, parole, juvenile delinquency or similar officers. (48) Qualified investment product--An investment product concerning which the plan administrator and the sponsoring prior plan or revised plan vendor have signed a product contract. (49) Revised plan--Refers to the State of Texas 457 Deferred Compensation Plan and the vendors and products approved by the Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas after August 31, 2000 for the Texa$aver program. The term "Texa$aver program" is used as it is defined in Texas Government Code §609.502. (50) Revised plan vendor--An insurance company, brokerage firm, or mutual fund distributor that sells investment products in the revised plan. The term includes a vendor's officers and/or employees. This applies only to vendors approved and implemented by the Board of Trustees subsequent to December 31, 1999. (51) Separation from service--A termination of the employment relationship between a participant and the participant's employing state agency, as determined in accordance with the agency's established practice. The term excludes a paid or unpaid leave of absence. (52) Spousal beneficiary--The current or ex-spouse of a participant who is designated to receive a participant's account balance. (53) State agency--A board, commission, office, department, or agency in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of state government. The term includes an institution of higher education as defined by the Education Code, §61.003. The term shall not include the University of Texas System. (54) Third Party Administrator (TPA)--An entity under the direction of the plan administrator that operates independently of both the employer and investment providers to perform agreed upon administrative services to a tax-deferred defined contribution plan. These tasks may include recordkeeping, preparation of participant statements, monitoring deferral limits, and other specified services. (55) Transfer--The redemption of deferrals and investment income from a qualified investment product for investment in another qualified investment product. (56) Trust--The deferred compensation trust fund established to hold and invest deferrals and investment income under the plan for the exclusive benefit of participants and their beneficiaries. (57) Trustee--The Board of Trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas. (58) Unforeseeable emergency distribution--A severe financial hardship of the participant resulting from: an illness or accident, loss of property due to casualty, funeral expenses or other extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances arising as a result of events beyond the control of the participant. (59) Valuation date--A point in time in which an asset is assigned a dollar value. It may be the designated time of closing (daily, last day of the calendar month, the last day of the calendar quarter, each December 31) for determination of account balances in a defined contribution plan. (60) Vendor contract--A contract between the plan administrator and an investment provider concerning the vendor's participation in the plan. (61) Vendor representative--An agent, independent agent, independent contractor, or other representative of a prior plan who is not an employee or officer of the vendor. (62) 401(a)(9), §401(a)(9) and Section 401(a)(9)--These terms refer to Internal Revenue Code §401(a)(9). (63) 457, §457 and Section 457--These terms refer to Internal Revenue Code §457. |
| Source Note: The provisions of this §87.1 adopted to be effective March 28, 1991, 16 TexReg 1560; amended to be effective January 10, 1992, 16 TexReg 7743; amended to be effective November 23, 1992, 17 TexReg 7911; amended to be effective January 1, 1994, 18 TexReg 8460; amended to be effective January 5, 1996, 20 TexReg 11022; amended to be effective November 11, 1996, 21 TexReg 10766; amended to be effective March 21, 1997, 22 TexReg 2513; amended to be effective February 12, 1998, 23 TexReg 1113; amended to be effective September 10, 1998, 23 TexReg 9067; amended to be effective January 10, 1999, 24 TexReg 165; amended to be effective January 5, 2003, 27 TexReg 12370;amendedtobeeffectiveSeptember11, 2003, 28 TexReg 7785; amended to be effective September 30, 2004, 29 TexReg 9204; amended to be effective May 29, 2005, 30 TexReg 3023; amended to be effective January 10, 2006, 31 TexReg 170; amended to be effective June 14, 2007, 32 TexReg 3357; amended to be effective December 31, 2007, 32 TexReg 10054 |
