By Luna                                          S.B. No. 660

      75R6226 CAG-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the operation of a county sick leave pool program.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 157.071(2), Local Government Code, is

 1-5     amended to read as follows:

 1-6                 (2)  "Employee" means a district, county, or precinct

 1-7     employee with 12 or more months of continuous employment with the

 1-8     district, county, or precinct who is paid from the general fund of

 1-9     the county, from a special fund of the county, or from special

1-10     grants paid through the county.

1-11           SECTION 2.  Section 157.074(b), Local Government Code, is

1-12     amended to read as follows:

1-13           (b)  On approval by the administrator, in a fiscal year the

1-14     employee may transfer to the county sick leave pool not less than

1-15     one day or more than five [three] days of accrued sick leave time,

1-16     or accrued vacation leave time in a county operating under Section

1-17     157.072(b), earned by the employee.  The administrator shall credit

1-18     the pool with the amount of time contributed by the employee and

1-19     shall deduct the same amount of time from the amount to which the

1-20     employee is entitled, as if the employee had used the time for

1-21     personal purposes.

1-22           SECTION 3.  Section 157.075(a), Local Government Code, is

1-23     amended to read as follows:

1-24           (a)  An employee is eligible to use time contributed to the

 2-1     county sick leave pool if, because of a catastrophic injury or

 2-2     illness [or because of a previous donation of sick leave time to

 2-3     the pool], the employee has exhausted all the accrued paid leave

 2-4     and compensatory [sick leave] time to which the employee is

 2-5     otherwise entitled.

 2-6           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 2-7           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

 2-8     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-9     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-10     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-11     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.