By Hawley                                              H.B. No. 235
         77R581 DLF-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to liability for use of property for disaster response or
 1-3     recovery.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 418, Government Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 418.1745 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 418.1745.  IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY ARISING FROM USE OF
 1-8     PROPERTY. (a)  In this section, "governmental unit" has the meaning
 1-9     assigned by Section 101.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
1-10           (b)  A person, including a governmental unit, is immune from
1-11     liability for damages arising from the use of the person's property
1-12     by the state or a political subdivision for disaster response or
1-13     recovery during a state of disaster declared under Section 418.014
1-14     or a local disaster declared under Section 418.108.
1-15           (c)  This section applies without regard to whether the
1-16     person's property was offered to the state or a political
1-17     subdivision under Section 418.074 or commandeered in accordance
1-18     with Section 418.017(c).
1-19           (d)  This section does not apply to a claim for damages
1-20     against a person, other than a governmental unit, that offered the
1-21     person's property to the state or a political subdivision, if the
1-22     act of offering the property was wilfully or wantonly negligent or
1-23     done with conscious indifference or reckless disregard for the
1-24     safety of others.
 2-1           (e)  Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, does not
 2-2     apply to a claim for damages described by Subsection (b).
 2-3           SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a cause of action that
 2-4     accrues on or after the effective date of this Act.  A cause of
 2-5     action that accrues before the effective date of this Act is
 2-6     governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
 2-7     date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for this
 2-8     purpose.
 2-9           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a
2-10     vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-11     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
2-12     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-13     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.