BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 91 By: Leedom State Affairs 2-6-95 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Under current law relating to the Employees Retirement System, by definition an "occupational disability," if induced by a disease, must result from a specific act or occurrence determinable at a definite time and place and be the direct result of an inherent risk or hazard peculiar to a duty that arising from and in the course of state employment. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 91 changes the definition of the causes of an "occupational death or disability" to include diseases resulting from duties performed in the course of state employment without regard to a specific act or occurrence determinable by a definite time and place. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subdivision (12), Section 811.001, Government Code, to redefine "occupational death or disability." SECTION 2. (a) Entitles a disability retiree of the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS), whose claim of an occupational disability was denied by the retirement system before the effective date of this Act, to an administrative hearing to determine whether the person's disability would have been occupational under Subdivision (12), Section 811.001, Government Code, as amended by this Act. Requires a request for a hearing to be filed with the retirement system before January 1, 1997. (b) Requires the ERS to mail to each disability retiree, whose claim of an occupational disability was denied by the retirement system in the two years preceding the effective date of this Act, a notice of the right to a hearing. (c) Requires the retirement system, if ERS determines that the retiree's disability would have been occupational, to recompute the retiree's annuity as an occupational disability retirement annuity of the same type as the annuity originally selected by the retiree. Provides that the annuity becomes payable after the redetermination is made of the nature of the disability. (d) Provides that a person whose annuity is recomputed under this section is considered a retiree because of occupational disability for purposes of all programs administered by ERS. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.