By Uher H.B. No. 1887
76R3712 BDH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to compensation and benefits for members of the state
1-3 military forces and their dependents.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 431.006, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 431.006. REEMPLOYMENT OF PERSON CALLED TO TRAINING OR
1-8 [ACTIVE] DUTY. (a) A private employer may not terminate the
1-9 employment of a permanent employee who is a member of the state
1-10 military forces because the employee is ordered to authorized
1-11 training or [active] duty by proper authority [during an emergency
1-12 within the state]. The employee is entitled to return to the same
1-13 employment held when ordered to training or [active] duty, and may
1-14 not be subjected to loss of time, efficiency rating, vacation time,
1-15 or any benefit of employment during or because of the absence. The
1-16 employee, as soon as practicable after release from duty, must give
1-17 written or actual notice of intent to return to employment.
1-18 (b) A person injured by a violation of this section is
1-19 entitled to:
1-20 (1) damages in an amount not exceeding six months'
1-21 compensation at the rate at which the person was compensated when
1-22 ordered to training or [active] duty; and
1-23 (2) reasonable attorney's fees approved by the court.
1-24 (c) It is a defense to an action under this section that the
2-1 employer's circumstances changed while the employee was in training
2-2 or on [active] duty to an extent that makes reemployment impossible
2-3 or unreasonable.
2-4 SECTION 2. Section 431.082(c), Government Code, is amended
2-5 to read as follows:
2-6 (c) When the adjutant general authorizes payment for
2-7 training or other duty under Subsection (b), a member of the state
2-8 military forces performing the training or other duty is entitled,
2-9 during the period of the training or other duty, to receive pay and
2-10 allowances as provided by law for the United States Armed Forces,
2-11 except that the pay may not be less than the reimbursement for
2-12 lodging and meals authorized by the General Appropriations Act.
2-13 This pay is an emolument for training or other duty and is salary
2-14 or base pay. The pay and allowances [and] may not be reduced
2-15 because of food, shelter, or transportation that the state pays or
2-16 furnishes in connection with the training or other duty.
2-17 SECTION 3. Section 431.104, Government Code, is amended to
2-18 read as follows:
2-19 Sec. 431.104. COMPENSATION FOR PERMANENT DISABILITY. (a) A
2-20 member of the state military forces whose disability incurred in
2-21 the line of military duty is permanent is entitled, after payment
2-22 under Section 431.102 has ceased and in addition to payment and
2-23 allowance under Section 431.103, to receive compensation based on
2-24 the person's percentage of total disability. [The compensation may
2-25 not exceed $440 a month plus 12 1/2 percent of the basic pay of the
2-26 grade or rank that the person held when the disability was
2-27 incurred.]
3-1 (b) For purposes of determining compensation for permanent
3-2 disability under this section:
3-3 (1) during a period that the disability is rated 10
3-4 percent the monthly compensation is $95;
3-5 (2) during a period that the disability is rated 20
3-6 percent the monthly compensation is $182;
3-7 (3) during a period that the disability is rated 30
3-8 percent the monthly compensation is $279;
3-9 (4) during a period that the disability is rated 40
3-10 percent the monthly compensation is $399;
3-11 (5) during a period that the disability is rated 50
3-12 percent the monthly compensation is $569;
3-13 (6) during a period that the disability is rated 60
3-14 percent the monthly compensation is $717;
3-15 (7) during a period that the disability is rated 70
3-16 percent the monthly compensation is $905;
3-17 (8) during a period that the disability is rated 80
3-18 percent the monthly compensation is $1,049;
3-19 (9) during a period that the disability is rated 90
3-20 percent the monthly compensation is $1,181; and
3-21 (10) during a period that the disability is rated as
3-22 total the monthly compensation is $1,964.
3-23 (c) The adjutant general shall appoint at least five
3-24 persons, including at least one officer of the medical corps, as
3-25 members of a board of officers. The board of officers shall:
3-26 (1) determine a person's percentage of disability and
3-27 award compensation for the disability under this section; and
4-1 (2) review each compensation award annually on a date
4-2 set by the adjutant general to determine whether the award should
4-3 be continued, increased, reduced, or eliminated.
4-4 SECTION 4. Section 431.105, Government Code, is amended by
4-5 amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
4-6 follows:
4-7 (d) The person's surviving dependent parents are entitled to
4-8 compensation as follows:
4-9 (1) if one dependent parent survives, $75 a month;
4-10 (2) if two dependent parents survive, $40 each a
4-11 month; and
4-12 (3) if a dependent parent who survives is a resident
4-13 in a nursing home or is so nearly helpless or blind as to require
4-14 the regular aid and attendance of another person, the rate of
4-15 compensation payable to the dependent parent under Subdivision (1)
4-16 or (2) is increased by $79 a month.
4-17 (e) Compensation and reimbursement under this subchapter and
4-18 the cost of administering this subchapter shall be paid from funds
4-19 in the state treasury appropriated to the state military forces in
4-20 the same manner provided for other expenditure of state funds.
4-21 Compensation or reimbursement may not be paid if the claim results
4-22 from activity related to duty or training under federal law or
4-23 regulations and federal law or regulations provide for the payment
4-24 of compensation or reimbursement.
4-25 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-4 passage, and it is so enacted.