By Luna, et al.                                        S.B. No. 525
         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.