BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 919 |
By: Kacal |
Business & Industry |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that the state should provide workers' compensation insurance coverage for nongovernmental individuals and local government employees who serve with an intrastate fire mutual aid system team or a regional incident management team on state-activated deployments or during training sessions sponsored or sanctioned by the state. C.S.H.B. 919 seeks to maximize the effectiveness of the state's emergency response by providing appropriate coverage for such individuals.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 919 amends the Education Code to include a participating nongovernment member or local government employee member of an intrastate fire mutual aid system team or a regional incident management team, during any period in which such a team is activated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management or during any training session sponsored or sanctioned by the division for such a team, in the coverage provided under Labor Code provisions relating to workers' compensation insurance coverage for certain state employees in the same manner as an employee expressly covered by those provisions. The bill defines "intrastate fire mutual aid system team" as such a team established under the state emergency management plan or the statewide mutual aid program for fire emergencies and coordinated by the Texas A&M Forest Service to assist the state with fire suppression and all-hazard emergency response activities before and following a natural or man-made disaster. The bill defines "regional incident management team" as such a team established by the Texas A&M Forest Service or under the state emergency management plan and coordinated by the Texas A&M Forest Service to assist the state with managing incident response activities before and following a natural or man-made disaster.
C.S.H.B. 919 establishes that service with an intrastate fire mutual aid system team or a regional incident management team by a state employee member who is activated or by an employee of The Texas A&M University System is considered to be in the course and scope of the employee's regular employment with the state or the university system, as applicable.
C.S.H.B. 919 amends the Labor Code to include as an employee for purposes of statutory provisions relating to workers' compensation insurance for certain state employees an intrastate fire mutual aid system team member or a regional incident management team member who is activated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management or is injured during training sponsored or sanctioned by the division on behalf of an intrastate fire mutual aid system team or a regional incident management team, as applicable. The bill establishes the method of computing income benefits or death benefits for such a team member who is engaged in authorized training or duty under the bill's provisions. The bill requires the Texas A&M Forest Service, for purposes of the bill's provisions and statutory provisions relating to workers' compensation insurance coverage for certain state employees, to perform all duties of an employer in relation to an intrastate fire mutual aid system team member or a regional incident management team member who is injured and receives benefits under those statutory provisions.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 919 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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