1-1     By:  Bernsen                                          S.B. No. 1806
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
 1-4     Relations; May 7, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0;
 1-6     May 7, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1806                   By:  Ellis
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to critical incident stress debriefing of public safety
1-11     employees.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Chapter 180, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-14     adding Section 180.004 to read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 180.004.  CRITICAL INCIDENT COUNSELING FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
1-16     EMPLOYEES.  (a)  In this chapter, "public safety employee" means a
1-17     peace officer, fire fighter, or emergency medical services employee
1-18     of a municipality.
1-19           (b)  In this chapter, "critical incident stress management"
1-20     means an educational process designed to mitigate the emotional
1-21     impact of a past or future critical incident on public safety
1-22     employees.
1-23           (c)  Upon request by an affected public safety employee, a
1-24     municipality shall provide counseling services by trained critical
1-25     incident stress personnel to that employee if the employee is
1-26     exposed to an emergency scene or incident involving the death or
1-27     serious injury of another person to whom the public safety employee
1-28     is providing service in the performance of the employee's official
1-29     duties.
1-30           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-31     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-32     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-33     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-34     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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