1-1 By: Kubiak, Longoria (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister) H.B. No. 2169
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 16, 1997;
1-3 May 16, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 18, 1997, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the liability of certain persons and organizations that
1-9 provide emergency services.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 101.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-12 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-13 Sec. 101.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-14 (1) "Emergency service organization" means a volunteer
1-15 fire department, rescue squad, or an emergency medical services
1-16 provider that is:
1-17 (A) operated by its members; and
1-18 (B) exempt from state taxes by being listed as
1-19 an exempt organization under Section 151.310 or 171.083, Tax Code.
1-20 (2) "Employee" means a person, including an officer or
1-21 agent, who is in the paid service of a governmental unit by
1-22 competent authority, but does not include an independent
1-23 contractor, an agent or employee of an independent contractor, or a
1-24 person who performs tasks the details of which the governmental
1-25 unit does not have the legal right to control.
1-26 (3) [(2)] "Governmental unit" means:
1-27 (A) this state and all the several agencies of
1-28 government that collectively constitute the government of this
1-29 state, including other agencies bearing different designations, and
1-30 all departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, offices, agencies,
1-31 councils, and courts;
1-32 (B) a political subdivision of this state,
1-33 including any city, county, school district, junior college
1-34 district, levee improvement district, drainage district, irrigation
1-35 district, water improvement district, water control and improvement
1-36 district, water control and preservation district, freshwater
1-37 supply district, navigation district, conservation and reclamation
1-38 district, soil conservation district, communication district,
1-39 public health district, and river authority;
1-40 (C) an emergency service organization [a
1-41 volunteer fire department]; and
1-42 (D) any other institution, agency, or organ of
1-43 government the status and authority of which are derived from the
1-44 Constitution of Texas or from laws passed by the legislature under
1-45 the constitution.
1-46 (4) [(3)] "Motor-driven equipment" does not include:
1-47 (A) equipment used in connection with the
1-48 operation of floodgates or water release equipment by river
1-49 authorities created under the laws of this state; or
1-50 (B) medical equipment, such as iron lungs,
1-51 located in hospitals.
1-52 (5) [(4)] "Scope of employment" means the performance
1-53 for a governmental unit of the duties of an employee's office or
1-54 employment and includes being in or about the performance of a task
1-55 lawfully assigned to an employee by competent authority.
1-56 (6) [(5)] "State government" means an agency, board,
1-57 commission, department, or office, other than a district or
1-58 authority created under Article XVI, Section 59, of the Texas
1-59 Constitution, that:
1-60 (A) was created by the constitution or a statute
1-61 of this state; and
1-62 (B) has statewide jurisdiction.
1-63 [(6) "Volunteer fire department" means a fire
1-64 department that is:]
2-1 [(A) operated by its members; and]
2-2 [(B) exempt from federal income tax under
2-3 Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
2-4 Section 501(a)) by being listed as an exempt organization in
2-5 Section 501(c)(3) of that code (26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3)).]
2-6 SECTION 2. Section 101.023(d), Civil Practice and Remedies
2-7 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-8 (d) Except as provided by Section 78.001, liability of an
2-9 emergency service organization [a volunteer fire department] under
2-10 this chapter is limited to money damages in a maximum amount of
2-11 $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each single occurrence
2-12 for bodily injury or death and $100,000 for each single occurrence
2-13 for injury to or destruction of property.
2-14 SECTION 3. Section 4(b), Article 21.61, Insurance Code, is
2-15 amended to read as follows:
2-16 (b) The coverage may indemnify an official, employee,
2-17 member, or volunteer of a volunteer fire department for liability
2-18 arising from the use of a covered motor vehicle in the performance
2-19 of the fire fighting duties of the official, employee, member, or
2-20 volunteer. The coverage must be subject to a maximum limit of
2-21 $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each single occurrence
2-22 [damages] for bodily injury or [,] death and $100,000 for each
2-23 single occurrence for injury to or destruction of[, or] property
2-24 [damage arising out of a single occurrence].
2-25 SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
2-26 4(b), Article 21.61, Insurance Code, applies only to an insurance
2-27 policy that is delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or
2-28 after January 1, 1998. A policy that is delivered, issued for
2-29 delivery, or renewed before January 1, 1998, is governed by the law
2-30 as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
2-31 and that law is continued in effect for this purpose.
2-32 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect on September 1, 1997, and
2-33 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
2-34 effective date of this Act. An action that accrues before the
2-35 effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the
2-36 action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
2-37 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-38 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
2-39 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-40 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-41 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-42 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-43 * * * * *