By Bivins                                             S.B. No. 1151
         76R8550 JMM-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to a disqualification from unemployment compensation
 1-3     benefits for certain persons engaged in seasonal employment.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 207, Labor Code, is amended
 1-6     by adding Section 207.054 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 207.054.  SERVICES PERFORMED IN SEASONAL PLAY OR MUSICAL
 1-8     PRODUCTION.  (a)  In this section:
 1-9                 (1)  "Nonprofit organization" means a nonprofit
1-10     organization under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986
1-11     (26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3)) that is exempt from income tax under
1-12     Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.  Section
1-13     501(a)).
1-14                 (2)  "Seasonal" means a period consisting of not more
1-15     than 17 consecutive weeks in a calendar year that recurs annually
1-16     at approximately the same time and during the same months each
1-17     calendar year.
1-18           (b)  Benefits are not payable to an individual based on
1-19     seasonal services performed by the individual for a nonprofit
1-20     organization in connection with a seasonal play or musical
1-21     production for the organization, a principal purpose of which is
1-22     education or historical preservation regarding the state or a
1-23     region of the state, if the service is provided under a written
1-24     employment agreement limited to the specific temporary seasonal
 2-1     period.
 2-2           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-3           (b)  The change in law made by this Act applies to
 2-4     eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits based on an
 2-5     unemployment compensation claim that is filed with the Texas
 2-6     Workforce Commission on or after the effective date of this Act.  A
 2-7     claim filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
 2-8     the law in effect on the date the claim was filed, and the former
 2-9     law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-10           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-11     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-12     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-13     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-14     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.