BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 676

By: Guillen

Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised regarding the difficulty a veteran with a disability may face in transitioning back to civilian life. It has been suggested that the spouses of such veterans, who may be the only source of household income, should be eligible for the veteran's employment preference for state positions. C.S.H.B. 676 seeks to address this concern by establishing such employment preference eligibility for current spouses of 100 percent disabled veterans.

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.

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.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 676 amends the Government Code to include among the individuals who qualify for a veteran's employment preference in employment with or appointment to an applicable state agency the spouse of a veteran with a disability who is receiving federal Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and has a total disability rating based either on having a service-connected disability with a disability rating of 100 percent or on individual unemployability. The bill grants such a spouse priority for a veteran's employment preference after a veteran with a disability and any other veteran and before other individuals qualified for such a preference. The bill requires an applicant for a position with a state agency who qualifies for a preference under the bill's provisions to furnish the official records to the individual whose duty it is to fill the position.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 676 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute does not include the condition that the spouse of a veteran with a disability must have been married to the veteran at the time the veteran separated from the armed services in order for the spouse to qualify for a veteran's employment preference.