By:  Gallegos                                         S.B. No. 1225
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to a report on fire protection services by the Texas
    1-2  Commission on Fire Protection.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 419, Government Code, is
    1-5  amended by adding Section 419.012 to read as follows:
    1-6        Sec. 419.012.  FIRE PROTECTION REPORT.  (a)  The commission
    1-7  shall file annually with the governor and the presiding officer of
    1-8  each house of the legislature a comprehensive report on the
    1-9  condition of fire protection services in the state.  The report
   1-10  shall:
   1-11              (1)  present and analyze data relating to the
   1-12  capability of fire departments, rural fire protection districts,
   1-13  and other firefighting organizations within the state to deliver
   1-14  effective fire protection services;
   1-15              (2)  discuss the implications of the data and analyses
   1-16  presented and make recommendations to improve the delivery of
   1-17  effective fire protection services;
   1-18              (3)  address the effectiveness of emergency medical
   1-19  services, rescue services, services involved in response to release
   1-20  of hazardous materials, and other services delivered by
   1-21  professional and volunteer fire departments and other organizations
   1-22  involved in fire protection; and
   1-23              (4)  provide statistical information regarding
    2-1  certified firefighters, including information on the ethnic
    2-2  composition of professional and volunteer fire departments.
    2-3        (b)  Each local government with a fire department and each
    2-4  organization and association involved in fire protection services
    2-5  shall provide the commission with the data necessary to compile the
    2-6  report required under Subsection (a), in a form prescribed by the
    2-7  commission.
    2-8        SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
    2-9        (b)  The Texas Commission on Fire Protection shall file its
   2-10  first annual report required by Section 419.012, Government Code,
   2-11  as added by this Act, on or before September 1, 1996.
   2-12        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.