By:  Gallegos                                 S.B. No. 983

         97S0597/1                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to a legislative leave time bank for fire fighters and

 1-2     police officers in certain municipalities.

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

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter G, Chapter 143, Local Government Code,

 1-5     is amended by adding Section 143.1261 to read as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 143.1261.  LEGISLATIVE LEAVE TIME BANK.  (a)  A police

 1-7     officer or fire fighter may donate one hour per month of

 1-8     accumulated vacation or compensatory time to a time bank

 1-9     established and maintained by the municipality in the name of a

1-10     police or fire fighter employee organization.  The police officer

1-11     or fire fighter must authorize the donation in writing on a form

1-12     provided by the employee organization and approved by the

1-13     municipality.  The municipality will transfer the donated time to

1-14     the employee organization's time bank account each month until the

1-15     police office or fire fighter revokes the authorization in writing.

1-16           (b)  Leave time donated to a time bank under this section may

1-17     be used to fund legislative leave used by a police officer or fire

1-18     fighter who is a member of a police or fire fighter employee

1-19     organization in lieu of the cash reimbursement required by Section

1-20     143.126.  A request to use leave time in an organization's time

1-21     bank must be made in writing and submitted to the municipality by

1-22     the president of the police or fire fighter employee organization

1-23     or the president's designee.

 2-1           (c)  The municipality may:

 2-2                 (1)  determine the cash value of the donated leave time

 2-3     and credit the amount to an account in the name of the organization

 2-4     and then deduct the cash value of legislative leave used from this

 2-5     account; or

 2-6                 (2)  exchange hours used by a police officer or fire

 2-7     fighter for legislative leave on a one-for-one basis for hours

 2-8     accumulated in the time bank account regardless of the cash value.

 2-9           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-10           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-11     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-12     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-13     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-14     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.