78R4170 YDB-D
By: Cook of Colorado H.B. No. 873
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the rural volunteer fire department insurance program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 614.071(6), Government Code, as added by
Chapter 1363, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001,
is amended to read as follows:
(6) "Volunteer fire department" means a fire
department operated by its members, including a partially paid fire
department, that:
(A) is operated on a not-for-profit basis,
including a department exempt from federal income tax under Section
501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being listed as an exempt
organization in Section 501(c)(3) of that code; and
(B) participates in a firefighter certification
program administered:
(i) under Section 419.071; [or]
(ii) by the State Firemen's and Fire
Marshals' Association of Texas; or
(iii) by the National Wildfire Coordinating
Group.
SECTION 2. Section 614.073, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 1363, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 614.073. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The director shall
appoint an advisory committee to advise the director in regard to
the administration of the program.
(b) The advisory committee consists of five members with [as
follows:
[(1) two members of the Texas Rural Fire Advisory
Council;
[(2) two elected county officials; and
[(3) one elected representative of a municipality with
a population of 10,000 or less.
[(c) The director shall appoint] one [advisory committee]
member appointed from each of the following geographic regions of
the state: north, south, east, west, and central.
(c) A member of the advisory committee is entitled to
reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses incurred by the member
in performing duties as a member of the advisory committee, subject
to any applicable limitation on reimbursement provided by general
law or the General Appropriations Act. A member may not receive
compensation for services.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.