By Kubiak, Longoria H.B. No. 2169
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the liability of certain persons and organizations that
1-3 provide emergency services.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 101.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-6 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 101.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-8 (1) "Emergency service organization" means a volunteer
1-9 fire department, rescue squad, or an emergency medical services
1-10 provider that is:
1-11 (A) operated by its members; and
1-12 (B) exempt from state taxes by being listed as
1-13 an exempt organization under Section 151.310 or 171.083, Tax Code.
1-14 (2) "Employee" means a person, including an officer or
1-15 agent, who is in the paid service of a governmental unit by
1-16 competent authority, but does not include an independent
1-17 contractor, an agent or employee of an independent contractor, or a
1-18 person who performs tasks the details of which the governmental
1-19 unit does not have the legal right to control.
1-20 (3) [(2)] "Governmental unit" means:
1-21 (A) this state and all the several agencies of
1-22 government that collectively constitute the government of this
1-23 state, including other agencies bearing different designations, and
1-24 all departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, offices, agencies,
2-1 councils, and courts;
2-2 (B) a political subdivision of this state,
2-3 including any city, county, school district, junior college
2-4 district, levee improvement district, drainage district, irrigation
2-5 district, water improvement district, water control and improvement
2-6 district, water control and preservation district, freshwater
2-7 supply district, navigation district, conservation and reclamation
2-8 district, soil conservation district, communication district,
2-9 public health district, and river authority;
2-10 (C) an emergency service organization [a
2-11 volunteer fire department]; and
2-12 (D) any other institution, agency, or organ of
2-13 government the status and authority of which are derived from the
2-14 Constitution of Texas or from laws passed by the legislature under
2-15 the constitution.
2-16 (4) [(3)] "Motor-driven equipment" does not include:
2-17 (A) equipment used in connection with the
2-18 operation of floodgates or water release equipment by river
2-19 authorities created under the laws of this state; or
2-20 (B) medical equipment, such as iron lungs,
2-21 located in hospitals.
2-22 (5) [(4)] "Scope of employment" means the performance
2-23 for a governmental unit of the duties of an employee's office or
2-24 employment and includes being in or about the performance of a task
2-25 lawfully assigned to an employee by competent authority.
2-26 (6) [(5)] "State government" means an agency, board,
2-27 commission, department, or office, other than a district or
3-1 authority created under Article XVI, Section 59, of the Texas
3-2 Constitution, that:
3-3 (A) was created by the constitution or a statute
3-4 of this state; and
3-5 (B) has statewide jurisdiction.
3-6 [(6) "Volunteer fire department" means a fire
3-7 department that is:]
3-8 [(A) operated by its members; and]
3-9 [(B) exempt from federal income tax under
3-10 Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
3-11 Section 501(a)) by being listed as an exempt organization in
3-12 Section 501(c)(3) of that code (26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3)).]
3-13 SECTION 2. Section 101.023(d), Civil Practice and Remedies
3-14 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-15 (d) Except as provided by Section 78.001, liability of an
3-16 emergency service organization [a volunteer fire department] under
3-17 this chapter is limited to money damages in a maximum amount of
3-18 $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each single occurrence
3-19 for bodily injury or death and $100,000 for each single occurrence
3-20 for injury to or destruction of property.
3-21 SECTION 3. Section 4(b), Article 21.61, Insurance Code, is
3-22 amended to read as follows:
3-23 (b) The coverage may indemnify an official, employee,
3-24 member, or volunteer of a volunteer fire department for liability
3-25 arising from the use of a covered motor vehicle in the performance
3-26 of the fire fighting duties of the official, employee, member, or
3-27 volunteer. The coverage must be subject to a maximum limit of
4-1 $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each single occurrence
4-2 [damages] for bodily injury or [,] death and $100,000 for each
4-3 single occurrence for injury to or destruction of[, or] property
4-4 [damage arising out of a single occurrence].
4-5 SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
4-6 4(b), Article 21.61, Insurance Code, applies only to an insurance
4-7 policy that is delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or
4-8 after January 1, 1998. A policy that is delivered, issued for
4-9 delivery, or renewed before January 1, 1998, is governed by the law
4-10 as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
4-11 and that law is continued in effect for this purpose.
4-12 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on September 1, 1997, and
4-13 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
4-14 effective date of this Act. An action that accrues before the
4-15 effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the
4-16 action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
4-17 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-18 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.