84R11302 MCK-F

By: Martinez H.B. No. 2854

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain claims for benefits or compensation by firefighters and emergency medical technicians or their survivors.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 607.052(b) and (h), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) A presumption under this subchapter does not apply:

(1) [to a determination of a survivor's eligibility for benefits under Chapter 615;

[(2)] in a cause of action brought in a state or federal court except for judicial review of a proceeding in which there has been a grant or denial of employment-related benefits or compensation;

(2) [(3)] to a determination regarding benefits or compensation under a life or disability insurance policy purchased by or on behalf of the firefighter or emergency medical technician that provides coverage in addition to any benefits or compensation required by law; or

(3) [(4)] if the disease or illness for which benefits or compensation is sought is known to be caused by the use of tobacco and:

(A) the firefighter or emergency medical technician is or has been a user of tobacco; or

(B) the firefighter's or emergency medical technician's spouse has, during the marriage, been a user of tobacco that is consumed through smoking.

(h) Subsection (b)(3) [(b)(4)] only prevents the application of the presumption authorized by this subchapter and does not affect the right of a firefighter or emergency medical technician to provide proof, without the use of that presumption, that an injury or illness occurred during the course and scope of employment.

SECTION 2. Section 607.055, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 607.055. CANCER. (a) A firefighter or emergency medical technician who suffers from cancer resulting in death or total or partial disability is presumed to have developed the cancer during the course and scope of employment as a firefighter or emergency medical technician if:

(1) the firefighter or emergency medical technician:

(A) regularly responded on the scene to calls involving fires or fire fighting; or

(B) regularly responded to an event involving the documented release of radiation or a known or suspected carcinogen while the person was employed as a firefighter or emergency medical technician; and

(2) either:

(A) the cancer is known to be associated with fire fighting or exposure to heat, smoke, radiation, or a known or suspected carcinogen[,] as determined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer; or

(B) the firefighter's or emergency medical technician's treating physician believes, with reasonable medical probability, that the cancer is not the result of other known causes [described by Subsection (b)].

(b) The presumption established by Subsection (a) does not apply to a type of cancer that has been proven to not be caused by fire fighting or [This section applies only to a type of cancer that may be caused by] exposure to heat, smoke, radiation, or a known or suspected carcinogen [as determined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer].

SECTION 3. Section 615.021(d), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) In a determination of whether the survivor of an individual listed under Section 615.003 is eligible for the payment of assistance under this chapter, any reasonable doubt arising from the circumstances of the individual's death, including whether a presumption under Subchapter B, Chapter 607, applies, shall be resolved in favor of the payment of assistance to the survivor.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2015.