By Kubiak, Longoria H.B. No. 2169
75R6927 MLS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the liability of emergency service organizations.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 101.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-5 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 101.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-7 (1) "Emergency service organization" means a volunteer
1-8 fire department, rescue squad, or an emergency medical services
1-9 provider that is:
1-10 (A) operated by its members; and
1-11 (B) exempt from state taxes by being listed as
1-12 an exempt organization under Section 151.310 or 171.082, Tax Code.
1-13 (2) "Employee" means a person, including an officer or
1-14 agent, who is in the paid service of a governmental unit by
1-15 competent authority, but does not include an independent
1-16 contractor, an agent or employee of an independent contractor, or a
1-17 person who performs tasks the details of which the governmental
1-18 unit does not have the legal right to control.
1-19 (3) [(2)] "Governmental unit" means:
1-20 (A) this state and all the several agencies of
1-21 government that collectively constitute the government of this
1-22 state, including other agencies bearing different designations, and
1-23 all departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, offices, agencies,
1-24 councils, and courts;
2-1 (B) a political subdivision of this state,
2-2 including any city, county, school district, junior college
2-3 district, levee improvement district, drainage district, irrigation
2-4 district, water improvement district, water control and improvement
2-5 district, water control and preservation district, freshwater
2-6 supply district, navigation district, conservation and reclamation
2-7 district, soil conservation district, communication district,
2-8 public health district, and river authority;
2-9 (C) an emergency service organization [a
2-10 volunteer fire department]; and
2-11 (D) any other institution, agency, or organ of
2-12 government the status and authority of which are derived from the
2-13 Constitution of Texas or from laws passed by the legislature under
2-14 the constitution.
2-15 (4) [(3)] "Motor-driven equipment" does not include:
2-16 (A) equipment used in connection with the
2-17 operation of floodgates or water release equipment by river
2-18 authorities created under the laws of this state; or
2-19 (B) medical equipment, such as iron lungs,
2-20 located in hospitals.
2-21 (5) [(4)] "Scope of employment" means the performance
2-22 for a governmental unit of the duties of an employee's office or
2-23 employment and includes being in or about the performance of a task
2-24 lawfully assigned to an employee by competent authority.
2-25 (6) [(5)] "State government" means an agency, board,
2-26 commission, department, or office, other than a district or
2-27 authority created under Article XVI, Section 59, of the Texas
3-1 Constitution, that:
3-2 (A) was created by the constitution or a statute
3-3 of this state; and
3-4 (B) has statewide jurisdiction.
3-5 [(6) "Volunteer fire department" means a fire
3-6 department that is:]
3-7 [(A) operated by its members; and]
3-8 [(B) exempt from federal income tax under
3-9 Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
3-10 Section 501(a)) by being listed as an exempt organization in
3-11 Section 501(c)(3) of that code (26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3)).]
3-12 SECTION 2. Section 101.023(d), Civil Practice and Remedies
3-13 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-14 (d) Except as provided by Section 78.001, liability of an
3-15 emergency service organization [a volunteer fire department] under
3-16 this chapter is limited to money damages in a maximum amount of
3-17 $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each single occurrence
3-18 for bodily injury or death and $100,000 for each single occurrence
3-19 for injury to or destruction of property.
3-20 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect on September 1, 1997, and
3-21 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
3-22 effective date of this Act. An action that accrues before the
3-23 effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the
3-24 action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
3-25 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-26 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
4-4 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
4-5 Amend H.B. No. 2169 as follows:
4-6 On page 1, line 12, between "or" and the comma, strike
4-7 "171.082" and substitute "171.083".
4-8 75R11208 MLS-D Nixon