75R16018 E
By Duncan S.B. No. 1107
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1107:
By Heflin C.S.S.B. No. 1107
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the provision of financial assistance to survivors of
1-3 certain law enforcement officers, firefighters, and others.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 615.003, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 615.003. Applicability. This chapter applies only to
1-8 eligible survivors of the following individuals:
1-9 (1) an individual elected, appointed, or employed as a
1-10 peace officer by the state or a political subdivision of the state
1-11 under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law;
1-12 (2) a paid probation officer appointed by the director
1-13 of a community supervision and corrections department who has the
1-14 duties set out in Section 2 and the qualifications set out in
1-15 Section 5, Article 42.131, Code of Criminal Procedure, or who was
1-16 appointed in accordance with prior law;
1-17 (3) a parole officer employed by the pardons and
1-18 paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who
1-19 has the duties set out in Section 2 and the qualifications set out
1-20 in Section 19, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, or in
1-21 prior law;
1-22 (4) a paid jailer;
1-23 (5) a member of an organized police reserve or
1-24 auxiliary unit who regularly assists peace officers in enforcing
2-1 criminal laws;
2-2 (6) a member of the class of employees of the
2-3 institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
2-4 formally designated as custodial personnel under Section 615.006 by
2-5 the Texas Board of Criminal Justice or its predecessor in function;
2-6 (7) a jailer or guard of a county jail who is
2-7 appointed by the sheriff and who:
2-8 (A) performs a security, custodial, or
2-9 supervisory function over the admittance, confinement, or discharge
2-10 of prisoners; and
2-11 (B) is certified by the Texas Commission on Law
2-12 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education;
2-13 (8) a juvenile correctional employee of the Texas
2-14 Youth Commission;
2-15 (9) an employee of the Texas Department of Mental
2-16 Health and Mental Retardation who:
2-17 (A) works at the department's maximum security
2-18 unit; or
2-19 (B) performs on-site services for the Texas
2-20 Department of Criminal Justice;
2-21 (10) an individual who is employed by the state or a
2-22 political or legal subdivision and is subject to certification by
2-23 the Texas Commission on Fire Protection;
2-24 (11) an individual employed by the state or a
2-25 political or legal subdivision whose principal duties are aircraft
2-26 crash and rescue fire fighting; [or]
2-27 (12) a member of an organized volunteer fire-fighting
3-1 unit that:
3-2 (A) renders fire-fighting services without
3-3 remuneration;
3-4 (B) consists of not fewer than 20 active
3-5 members, a majority of whom [which] are present at each meeting;
3-6 and
3-7 (C) conducts a minimum of two drills each month,
3-8 each two hours long; or
3-9 (13) an individual who:
3-10 (A) performs emergency medical services or
3-11 operates an ambulance;
3-12 (B) is employed by a political subdivision of
3-13 the state; and
3-14 (C) is qualified as an emergency medical
3-15 technician or at a higher level of training under Section 773.047,
3-16 773.048, or 773.049, Health and Safety Code.
3-17 SECTION 2. Section 615.021, Government Code, is amended to
3-18 read as follows:
3-19 Sec. 615.021. Eligible Survivors. (a) A survivor of an
3-20 individual listed under Section 615.003 is eligible for the payment
3-21 of assistance under this chapter if:
3-22 (1) the listed individual died in the course of the
3-23 individual's duty performed in the individual's position as
3-24 described by Section 615.003 as a result of exposure to a risk:
3-25 (A) that is inherent in the duty; or
3-26 (B) to which the general public is not
3-27 customarily exposed; and
4-1 (2) the survivor is:
4-2 (A) the surviving spouse of the listed
4-3 individual;
4-4 (B) a minor child of the listed individual;
4-5 (C) a surviving dependent parent of the listed
4-6 individual, if:
4-7 (i) there is no surviving spouse or minor
4-8 child; and
4-9 (ii) the parent was claimed as a dependent
4-10 on the income tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service by
4-11 the listed individual in the year preceding the year in which the
4-12 listed individual died; or
4-13 (D) a surviving dependent sibling of the listed
4-14 individual and is younger than 18 years of age, if:
4-15 (i) there is no surviving spouse or minor
4-16 child; and
4-17 (ii) the sibling was claimed as a
4-18 dependent on the income tax return filed with the Internal Revenue
4-19 Service by the listed individual in the year preceding the year in
4-20 which the listed individual died.
4-21 (b) An individual employed by the state or a political or
4-22 legal subdivision who is subject to certification by the Texas
4-23 Commission on Fire Protection or whose principal duties are
4-24 aircraft crash and rescue fire fighting is considered to have died
4-25 in the course of performing the individual's duty in the
4-26 individual's position as described by Section 615.003 as a result
4-27 of exposure to a risk that is inherent in the duty or to which the
5-1 general public is not customarily exposed if the individual died
5-2 while actually performing an activity that the individual was
5-3 certified to perform by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection,
5-4 without regard to whether the individual was actually performing
5-5 the activity during the individual's compensable hours at work.
5-6 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-11 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-12 passage, and it is so enacted.