SRC-JFA S.B. 831 75(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 831
By: Madla
Health and Human Services
5-19-97
As Filed


DIGEST 

Currently, the state is not required by law to provide tuberculosis
screening tests for its public safety employees or to pay certain expenses
of the public safety employee who contracts the disease during the
employee's course of employment with the state.  The prevalence of
tuberculosis among certain populations such as prisoners, indigents,
recent immigrants, institutionalized patients and AIDS patients is a major
health concern.  Fire fighters and EMS personnel are routinely exposed to
all of these high risk populations during the course of their duties.
Tuberculosis exposures for emergency personnel jumped from 13.3 percent of
all communicable diseases exposures in 1990 to 38.6 percent in 1995,
according to the International Association of Firefighters.  This bill
would require the state and each political subdivision of the state to
provide tuberculosis screening tests for its public safety employees and
to pay certain medical expenses and salary of the public safety employee
who contracts the disease during the course of employment with the state.  

PURPOSE

As proposed, S.B. 831 requires the state and each political subdivision of
the state to provide tuberculosis screening tests for its public safety
employees and to pay certain medical expenses and salary of the public
safety employee who contracts the disease during the course of employment.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 607.001, Government Code, as follows:

Sec. 607.001.  New heading.  DEFINITIONS.  Defines "screening test" and
"tuberculosis." Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. 

SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 607, Government Code, by adding Section 607.005,
as follows: 

Sec. 607.005.  TUBERCULOSIS BENEFITS.  Requires the state and each
political subdivision of the state to provide annual tuberculosis
screening tests for its public safety employees.  Provides that it is
presumed that a person who contracts tuberculosis while employed as a
public safety employee contracted the disease during the course of
employment.  Provides that the state or political subdivision of the state
employing the public safety employee has the burden of rebutting the
presumption that the employee contracted tuberculosis during the course of
employment by clear and convincing evidence.  Requires the state or
political subdivision of the state employing a public safety employee who
contracts tuberculosis during the course of employment to pay the medical
expenses incurred by the employee in treating the disease that are not
reimbursed or otherwise covered under any health benefit plan covering the
employee, and the employee's salary, including pay for overtime built into
the normal work schedule, for work missed because of the disease. 

SECTION 3. Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.