BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 988 By: Sibley (Maxey) May 9, 1995 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND In 1989 the legislature authorized each state agency to establish a sick leave pool to benefit employees who personally or whose family members suffer a catastrophic illness or injury. Employees are permitted to donate up to 24 hours per fiscal year to a pool. Many agencies find it difficult to maintain enough hours in their pools to match employee requests. Due to the 24-hour limit, those employees interested in increasing their donations cannot do so. Similarly, employees retiring or leaving state service who wish to donate leave balances to their pool cannot contribute more than 24 hours. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 988 authorizes state employees and retiring employees to contribute accrued sick leave to the sick leave pool. 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 Section 661.003, Government Code, by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d), as follows: (b) Authorizes a state employee to contribute one or more, rather than being limited to three, days of the employee's accrued sick leave to a pool on approval by the pool administrator. (d) Authorizes a retiring employee to designate the number of the retiring employee's accrued sick leave hours to be used for retirement credit and the number of the retiring employee's accrued sick leave hours to be donated on retirement to the sick leave pool. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1995. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION SB 988 was considered by the committee in a public hearing on May 9, 1995. The Chair laid out SB 988. The bill was reported favorably without amendment with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed, and be sent to the Committee on Local and Consent Calendars, by a record vote of 13 ayes, 0 nays, 0 pnv, and 2 absent.