C.S.H.B. 2385 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


C.S.H.B. 2385
By: Griggs
Defense Affairs and State-Federal Relations
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

With the events occurring in the Persian Gulf, many county and municipal
employees who serve as reserve military troops have been called up to
active duty and deployed to the war region, or another location in support
of the US military campaign in the Gulf. If the action against Iraq
continues for an extended period, many soldiers could exhaust their
military leave time and lose the supplemental salary they receive from
their "regular" jobs and have come to rely on to support their families
during this time. 

HB 2385 would allow a municipality or county to voluntarily continue
paying salary payments for active duty soldiers after all military leave
time has been exhausted. 


RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Committee that this bill does not expressly
delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer,
department, agency, or institution. 


ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  HB 2385 allows a county or municipality to provide temporary
salary payments for municipal and county employees called to active
military duty.  The bill defines who is eligible or ineligible for
continuing salary payments.  It provides that salary continuation will
only occur after exhaustion of all military leave to which a person is
entitled.  The permissive legislation allows the appropriate governing
body to determine the amount of continuing salary. 

The bill allows the governing body to adopt rules to implement the salary
payments.  It excludes other benefits from being affected by the
continuation of the salary.   

SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, unless it receives
the votes necessary for immediate effect. 


COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE:

The substitute modifies the original version of the bill by making a
clarification in Section 173.003 that the governing body that authorizes
payments may approve the manner in which payments would be made. This is
to prevent an employee from dictating that payments be made more
frequently or on a different schedule than normal. 

The substitute modifies the original version of the bill by eliminating
the provision of a September 1, 2005 expiration of the chapter.