AN ACT
1-1 relating to compensation and benefits for members of the state
1-2 military forces and their dependents.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 431.006, Government Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 431.006. REEMPLOYMENT OF PERSON CALLED TO TRAINING OR
1-7 [ACTIVE] DUTY. (a) A private employer may not terminate the
1-8 employment of a permanent employee who is a member of the state
1-9 military forces because the employee is ordered to authorized
1-10 training or [active] duty by proper authority [during an emergency
1-11 within the state]. The employee is entitled to return to the same
1-12 employment held when ordered to training or [active] duty and may
1-13 not be subjected to loss of time, efficiency rating, vacation time,
1-14 or any benefit of employment during or because of the absence. The
1-15 employee, as soon as practicable after release from duty, must give
1-16 written or actual notice of intent to return to employment. This
1-17 subsection does not require a private employer to pay the regular
1-18 wage of an employee during the period that the employee is absent
1-19 from work to participate in authorized training or duty.
1-20 (b) A person injured by a violation of this section is
1-21 entitled to:
1-22 (1) damages in an amount not exceeding six months'
1-23 compensation at the rate at which the person was compensated when
1-24 ordered to training or [active] duty; and
2-1 (2) reasonable attorney's fees approved by the court.
2-2 (c) It is a defense to an action under this section that the
2-3 employer's circumstances changed while the employee was in training
2-4 or on [active] duty to an extent that makes reemployment impossible
2-5 or unreasonable.
2-6 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 431.082, Government Code,
2-7 is amended to read as follows:
2-8 (c) When the adjutant general authorizes payment for
2-9 training or other duty under Subsection (b), a member of the state
2-10 military forces performing the training or other duty is entitled,
2-11 during the period of the training or other duty, to receive pay and
2-12 allowances as provided by law for the United States Armed Forces,
2-13 except that the pay may not be less than the reimbursement for
2-14 lodging and meals authorized by the General Appropriations Act.
2-15 This pay is an emolument for training or other duty and is salary
2-16 or base pay. The pay and allowances [and] may not be reduced
2-17 because of food, shelter, or transportation that the state pays or
2-18 furnishes in connection with the training or other duty.
2-19 SECTION 3. Section 431.104, Government Code, is amended to
2-20 read as follows:
2-21 Sec. 431.104. COMPENSATION FOR DEATH OR [PERMANENT]
2-22 DISABILITY. (a) A member of the state military forces who is
2-23 killed or disabled while engaged in authorized training or duty
2-24 [whose disability incurred in the line of military duty] is
2-25 [permanent is] entitled[, after payment under Section 431.102 has
2-26 ceased and in addition to payment and allowance under Section
3-1 431.103,] to receive compensation under Chapter 501, Labor Code
3-2 [based on the person's percentage of total disability]. [The
3-3 compensation may not exceed $440 a month plus 12 1/2 percent of the
3-4 basic pay of the grade or rank that the person held when the
3-5 disability was incurred.]
3-6 (b) The adjutant general, in cooperation with the State
3-7 Office of Risk Management, may use available public funds to
3-8 purchase an insurance policy or annuity contract from any insurance
3-9 or annuity company authorized to do business in this state as the
3-10 adjutant general considers necessary to carry out this section.
3-11 This subsection expires September 1, 2001 [shall appoint at least
3-12 five persons, including at least one officer of the medical corps,
3-13 as members of a board of officers. The board of officers shall:]
3-14 [(1) determine a person's percentage of disability and
3-15 award compensation for the disability under this section; and]
3-16 [(2) review each compensation award annually on a date
3-17 set by the adjutant general to determine whether the award should
3-18 be continued, increased, reduced, or eliminated].
3-19 SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 408, Labor Code, is amended
3-20 by adding Section 408.0445 to read as follows:
3-21 Sec. 408.0445. AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE FOR MEMBERS OF THE STATE
3-22 MILITARY FORCES. For purposes of computing income benefits or
3-23 death benefits under Section 431.104, Government Code, the average
3-24 weekly wage of a member of the state military forces as defined by
3-25 Section 431.001, Government Code, who is engaged in authorized
3-26 training or duty is an amount equal to the sum of the member's
4-1 regular weekly wage at any employment the member holds in addition
4-2 to serving as a member of the state military forces, disregarding
4-3 any period during which the member is not fully compensated for
4-4 that employment because the member is engaged in authorized
4-5 military training or duty, and the member's regular weekly wage as
4-6 a member of the state military forces, except that the amount may
4-7 not exceed 100 percent of the state average weekly wage as
4-8 determined under Section 408.047.
4-9 SECTION 5. Subdivision (5), Section 501.001, Labor Code, is
4-10 amended to read as follows:
4-11 (5) "Employee" means a person who is:
4-12 (A) in the service of the state pursuant to an
4-13 election, appointment, or express oral or written contract of hire;
4-14 (B) paid from state funds but whose duties
4-15 require that the person work and frequently receive supervision in
4-16 a political subdivision of the state; [or]
4-17 (C) a peace officer employed by a political
4-18 subdivision, while the peace officer is exercising authority
4-19 granted under Article 14.03(c), Code of Criminal Procedure; or
4-20 (D) a member of the state military forces, as
4-21 defined by Section 431.001, Government Code, who is engaged in
4-22 authorized training or duty.
4-23 SECTION 6. Section 501.002, Labor Code, is amended by adding
4-24 Subsection (e) to read as follows:
4-25 (e) For the purposes of this chapter and Chapter 451, the
4-26 adjutant general is considered the employer of a member of the
5-1 state military forces while engaged in authorized training or duty.
5-2 SECTION 7. Section 501.024, Labor Code, is amended to read
5-3 as follows:
5-4 Sec. 501.024. EXCLUSIONS FROM COVERAGE. The following
5-5 persons are excluded from coverage as an employee under this
5-6 chapter:
5-7 (1) a person performing personal services for the
5-8 state as an independent contractor or volunteer;
5-9 (2) [a member of the state military forces as defined
5-10 by Section 431.001, Government Code;]
5-11 [(3)] a person who at the time of injury was
5-12 performing services for the federal government and who is covered
5-13 by some form of federal workers' compensation insurance;
5-14 (3) [(4)] a prisoner or inmate of a prison or
5-15 correctional institution;
5-16 (4) [(5)] a client or patient of a state agency;
5-17 (5) [(6)] a person employed by the Texas Department of
5-18 Transportation who is covered under Chapter 505;
5-19 (6) [(7)] a person employed by The University of Texas
5-20 System who is covered by Chapter 503; and
5-21 (7) [(8)] a person employed by The Texas A&M
5-22 University System who is covered by Chapter 502.
5-23 SECTION 8. Sections 431.102, 431.103, 431.105, and 431.106,
5-24 Government Code, are repealed.
5-25 SECTION 9. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-26 (b) The change in law made by this Act to Subchapter G,
6-1 Chapter 431, Government Code, applies only to an injury or death of
6-2 a member of the state military forces occurring on or after August
6-3 15, 1998, and to compensation payable on or after the effective
6-4 date of this Act.
6-5 (c) The change in law made by this Act to Sections 501.001
6-6 and 501.024, Labor Code, applies to a compensable injury sustained
6-7 by a member of the state military forces on or after August 15,
6-8 1998. For purposes of complying with the procedural requirements
6-9 to establish a claim for compensation under the workers'
6-10 compensation laws by a member of the state military forces who
6-11 sustains a compensable injury before the effective date of this
6-12 Act, the member's compensable injury is considered to have been
6-13 sustained on the effective date of this Act.
6-14 (d) Compensation paid or payable for an injury or death of a
6-15 member of the state military forces while engaged in authorized
6-16 training or duty occurring before August 15, 1998, and compensation
6-17 paid or payable before the effective date of this Act for any
6-18 injury or death of a member of the state military forces while
6-19 engaged in authorized training or duty are governed by the law as
6-20 it existed on the effective date, and the former law is continued
6-21 in effect for that purpose.
6-22 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
6-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 525 passed the Senate on
April 19, 1999, by a viva-voce vote; and that the Senate adopted
S.C.R. No. 84, recalling S.B. No. 525 from the Governor for
reconsideration on May 20, 1999; and that the Senate concurred in
House amendment to S.B. No. 525 on May 28, 1999, by a viva-voce
vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 525 passed the House on
May 8, 1999, by a non-record vote; and that the House adopted
S.C.R. No. 84, recalling S.B. No. 525 from the Governor on
May 21, 1999; and that S.B. No. 525 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 25, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor