Amend CSSB 525 by striking all below the enacting clause and
substituting the following:
SECTION 1. Section 431.006, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 431.006. REEMPLOYMENT OF PERSON CALLED TO TRAINING OR
<ACTIVE> DUTY. (a) A private employer may not terminate the
employment of a permanent employee who is a member of the state
military forces because the employee is ordered to authorized
training or <active> duty by proper authority <during an emergency
within the state>. The employee is entitled to return to the same
employment held when ordered to training or <active> duty and may
not be subjected to loss of time, efficiency rating, vacation time,
or any benefit of employment during or because of the absence. The
employee, as soon as practicable after release from duty, must give
written or actual notice of intent to return to employment.
(b) A person injured by a violation of this section is
entitled to:
(1) damages in an amount not exceeding six months'
compensation at the rate at which the person was compensated when
ordered to training or <active> duty; and
(2) reasonable attorney's fees approved by the court.
(c) It is a defense to an action under this section that the
employer's circumstances changed while the employee was in training
or on <active> duty to an extent that makes reemployment impossible
or unreasonable.
SECTION 2. Section 431.082(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) When the adjutant general authorizes payment for
training or other duty under Subsection (b), a member of the state
military forces performing the training or other duty is entitled,
during the period of the training or other duty, to receive pay and
allowances as provided by law for the United States Armed Forces,
except that the pay may not be less than the reimbursement for
lodging and meals authorized by the General Appropriations Act.
This pay is an emolument for training or other duty and is salary
or base pay. The pay and allowances <and> may not be reduced
because of food, shelter, or transportation that the state pays or
furnishes in connection with the training or other duty.
SECTION 3. Section 431.104, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 431.104. COMPENSATION FOR DEATH OR <PERMANENT>
DISABILITY. (a) A member of the state military forces who is
killed or disabled while engaged in authorized training or duty
<whose disability incurred in the line of military duty> is
<permanent is> entitled<, after payment under Section 431.102 has
ceased and in addition to payment and allowance under Section
431.103,> to receive compensation under Chapter 501, Labor Code
<based on the person's percentage of total disability>. <The
compensation may not exceed $440 a month plus 12 1/2 percent of the
basic pay of the grade or rank that the person held when the
disability was incurred.>
(b) The adjutant general, in cooperation with the State
Office of Risk Management, may use available public funds to
purchase an insurance policy or annuity contract from any insurance
or annuity company authorized to do business in this state as the
adjutant general considers necessary to carry out this section.
This subsection expires September 1, 2001. <The adjutant general
shall appoint at least five persons, including at least one officer
of the medical corps, as members of a board of officers. The board
of officers shall:>
<(1) determine a person's percentage of disability and
award compensation for the disability under this section; and>
<(2) review each compensation award annually on a date
set by the adjutant general to determine whether the award should
be continued, increased, reduced, or eliminated.>
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 408, Labor Code, is amended
by adding Section 408.0445 to read as follows:
Sec. 408.0445. AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE FOR MEMBERS OF THE STATE
MILITARY FORCES. For purposes of computing income benefits or death
benefits under Section 431.104, Government Code, the average weekly
wage of a member of the state military forces as defined by Section
431.001, Government Code, who is engaged in authorized training or
duty is an amount equal to the sum of the member's regular weekly
wage at any employment the member holds in addition to serving as a
member of the state military forces, disregarding any period during
which the member is not fully compensated for that employment
because the member is engaged in authorized military training or
duty, and the member's regular weekly wage as a member of the state
military forces, except that the amount may not exceed 100 percent
of the state average weekly wage as determined under Section
408.047.
SECTION 5. Section 501.001(5), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(5) "Employee" means a person who is:
(A) in the service of the state pursuant to an
election, appointment, or express oral or written contract of hire;
(B) paid from state funds but whose duties
require that the person work and frequently receive supervision in
a political subdivision of the state; <or>
(C) a peace officer employed by a political
subdivision, while the peace officer is exercising authority
granted under Article 14.03(c), Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(D) a member of the state military forces, as
defined by Section 431.001, Government Code, who is engaged in
authorized training or duty.
SECTION 6. Section 501.002, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) For the purposes of this chapter and Chapter 451, the
adjutant general is considered the employer of a member of the
state military forces while engaged in authorized training or duty.
SECTION 7. Section 501.024, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 501.024. EXCLUSIONS FROM COVERAGE. The following
persons are excluded from coverage as an employee under this
chapter:
(1) a person performing personal services for the
state as an independent contractor or volunteer;
(2) <a member of the state military forces as defined
by Section 431.001, Government Code;>
<(3)> a person who at the time of injury was
performing services for the federal government and who is covered
by some form of federal workers' compensation insurance;
(3) <(4)> a prisoner or inmate of a prison or
correctional institution;
(4) <(5)> a client or patient of a state agency;
(5) <(6)> a person employed by the Texas Department of
Transportation who is covered under Chapter 505;
(6) <(7)> a person employed by The University of Texas
System who is covered by Chapter 503; and
(7) <(8)> a person employed by The Texas A&M
University System who is covered by Chapter 502.
SECTION 8. Sections 431.102, 431.103, 431.105, and 431.106,
Government Code, are repealed.
SECTION 9. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Subchapter G,
Chapter 431, Government Code, applies only to an injury or death of
a member of the state military forces occurring on or after August
15, 1998, and to compensation payable on or after the effective
date of this Act.
(c) The change in law made by this Act to Sections 501.001
and 501.024, Labor Code, applies to a compensable injury sustained
by a member of the state military forces on or after August 15,
1998. For purposes of complying with the procedural requirements
to establish a claim for compensation under the workers'
compensation laws by a member of the state military forces who
sustains a compensable injury before the effective date of this
Act, the member's compensable injury is considered to have been
sustained on the effective date of this Act.
(d) Compensation paid or payable for an injury or death of a
member of the state military forces while engaged in authorized
training or duty occurring before August 15, 1998, and compensation
paid or payable before the effective date of this Act for any
injury or death of a member of the state military forces while
engaged in authorized training or duty are governed by the law as
it existed on the effective date, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby
suspended.