Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 537 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1302 3
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By: Representatives Wing, A. Collins, L. Johnson, Scott, Vaught 5
By: Senator C. Tucker 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO OFFER TRAU MATIC EVENT LICENSED COUNSELING 9
FOR PUBLIC SAFETY EM PLOYEES; TO ENSURE C OVERAGE OF 10
TRAUMATIC EVENT LICE NSED COUNSELING FOR PUBLIC SAFETY 11
EMPLOYEES; TO REQUIR E A STUDY OF AVAILAB ILITY FOR 12
PEER SUPPORT ACCESS FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFI GHTERS; AND 13
FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 14
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16
Subtitle 17
TO OFFER AND ENSURE COVERAGE OF TRAUMATIC 18
EVENT LICENSED COUNSELING FOR PUBLIC 19
SAFETY EMPLOYEES; AND TO RE QUIRE A STUDY 20
OF AVAILABILITY FOR PEER SUPPORT ACCESS 21
FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS. 22
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 25
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SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Traumatic event licensed counseling for 27
public safety employees — Exceptions — Definitions. 28
(a) As used in this section: 29
(1) "Firefighter" means: 30
(A) A paid, full-time member of a fire department or 31
firefighting unit of a city of the first class, city of the second class, 32
fire protection district, or an incorporated town or an unincorporated rural 33
area of this state who actively engages in the fighting of fires on a regular 34
basis; or 35
(B) A paid, full-time instructor of the Arkansas Fire 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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Training Academy or a member of the firefighting organization of the Arkansas 1
National Guard Robinson Maneuver Training Center or of the Arkansas National 2
Guard Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center; 3
(2) "Licensed counseling" means counseling provided by a 4
licensed mental health professional; 5
(3) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 6
individual who: 7
(A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 8
(B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; and 9
(C) Is one (1) of the following: 10
(i) A psychiatrist; 11
(ii) A psychologist; 12
(iii) A mental health professional who holds either 13
a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; 14
(iv) A mental health nurse practitioner or mental 15
health clinical nurse who is: 16
(a) A registered nurse licensed and certi fied 17
by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 18
(b) Working within the scope of practice as 19
authorized by law; or 20
(v) A psychiatric physician assistant who is working 21
under the supervision of a licensed physician; 22
(4) "Police officer" means: 23
(A) A paid, full-time law enforcement officer engaged in 24
official duty who is a member of: 25
(i) A regular police force; 26
(ii) The Division of Arkansas State Police; or 27
(iii) The law enforcement organization of the: 28
(a) Arkansas National Guard Robinson Maneuver 29
Training Center; or 30
(b) Arkansas National Guard Fort Chaffee Joint 31
Maneuver Training Center; 32
(B) A paid, full-time sheriff or deputy sheriff of a 33
county of this state who is engaged in official duty; or 34
(C) A paid, full-time constable or night marshal of a town 35
of this state who is engaged in official duty; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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(5) "Public safety employee" means a public employee who is: 1
(A) A probation officer, surveillance officer, or adult or 2
juvenile detention officer employed by this state or a political subdivision 3
of this state; 4
(B) A firefighter; or 5
(C) A police officer; and 6
(6) "Traumatic event" means an individual's direct exposure in 7
the line of duty to an incident involving: 8
(A) The extraordinary traumatic bodily injury or death of 9
a person; 10
(B) The serious injury, death, abuse, or exploitation of a 11
minor; 12
(C) An immediate threat to the life of the individual or 13
another person; or 14
(D) A mass casualti es event. 15
(b)(1) A public employer that employs a public safety employee shall 16
provide coverage for licensed counseling for a public safety employee who 17
experiences a traumatic event while in the course of duty. 18
(2)(A) The coverage under subdivision ( b)(1) shall allow for up 19
to twelve (12) licensed counseling visits per calendar year. 20
(B) The public employer shall pay for the licensed 21
counseling visits. 22
(C) The licensed counseling visits may be provided through 23
telehealth. 24
(c) Payment by a pu blic employer for licensed counseling under this 25
section does not create a presumption that a claim is compensable under §§ 26
11-9-113 or 11-9-114. 27
(d)(1) A public employer that provides coverage under subdivision 28
(b)(1) of this section shall ensure that t he following data is compiled as 29
part of the coverage: 30
(A) The number of public safety employees who have 31
participated in licensed counseling; 32
(B) The average number of visits of licensed counseling 33
per public safety employee; 34
(C) The average number of months that a public safety 35
employee participated in licensed counseling; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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(D) The average number of days that a public safety 1
employee who participated in licensed counseling missed work; 2
(E)(i) The total number of public safety employees who 3
participated in licensed counseling and who subsequently filed a workers' 4
compensation claim. 5
(ii) The data compiled under subdivision 6
(d)(1)(E)(i) of this section shall include the number of claims that were 7
approved and the number of claims tha t were denied; and 8
(F) For each public employer: 9
(i) The total amount of work missed by public safety 10
employees who participated in licensed counseling; and 11
(ii) How missed work was accounted for by the public 12
employer or through employee benefits. 13
(2) In implementing subdivision (d)(1) of this section, a public 14
employer shall not compile and report data that is protected under the Health 15
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104 -191. 16
(e)(1)(A) A public emp loyer shall allow a public safety employee 17
to select the public safety employee's own licensed mental health 18
professional. 19
(B) However, if a licensed mental health professional 20
declines to provide licensed counseling under this section, then the public 21
employer is not required to secure the services of that licensed mental 22
health professional under subdivision (e)(1)(A) of this section. 23
(2)(A) The public employer shall pay the licensed mental health 24
professional in an amount not to exceed the deducti bles and conditions under 25
the public safety employee's current health benefit plan. 26
(B) The public employee is responsible for providing any 27
documentation to evidence the amount billed to the public employee under the 28
current health benefit plan. 29
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SECTION 2. DO NOT CODIFY. Study of availability of peer support 31
access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters — Legislative 32
findings — Reporting requirements — Definitions. 33
(a) As used in this section: 34
(1) "Licensed counseling" means cou nseling provided by a 35
licensed mental health professional; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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(2) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 1
individual who: 2
(A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 3
(B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; and 4
(C) Is one (1) of the following: 5
(i) A psychiatrist; 6
(ii) A psychologist; 7
(iii) A mental health professional who holds either 8
a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; 9
(iv) A mental health nurse practitioner or mental 10
health clinical nurse who is: 11
(a) A registered nurse licensed and certified 12
by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 13
(b) Working within the scope of practice as 14
authorized by law; or 15
(v) A psychiatric physician assist ant who is working 16
under the supervision of a licensed physician; 17
(3) "Traumatic event" means an individual's direct exposure in 18
the line of duty to an incident involving: 19
(A) The extraordinary traumatic bodily injury or death of 20
a person; 21
(B) The serious injury, death, abuse, or exploitation of a 22
minor; 23
(C) An immediate threat to the life of the individual or 24
another person; or 25
(D) A mass casualty event; and 26
(4) "Volunteer firefighter" means a member of a fire department 27
or firefighting unit who: 28
(A) Actively engages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 29
operation, or other firefighting activity; and 30
(B) Receives less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) in 31
total compensation during the taxable year from the volunteer fire department 32
or firefighting unit that the volunteer firefighter services. 33
(b) The General Assembly finds that: 34
(1) Volunteer firefighters provide a valuable and important 35
service to the citizens and communities in this state by participating in a 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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firefighting unit that actively engages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 1
operation, or other firefighting activities; 2
(2) Volunteer firefighters may experience traumatic events that 3
experience and training has not adequately prepared the volunteer 4
firefighters to handle and address in a healthy way; 5
(3) A volunteer firefighter who experiences a traumatic event 6
should have access to licensed counseling and other available resources; 7
(4) Coverage for licensed counseling should be made available to 8
a volunteer firefighter who experiences a traumatic event; and 9
(5) In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of licensed 10
counseling for volunteer firefighters and benefits or difficulties in the 11
providing coverage for licensed counseling to volunteer firefig hters, 12
additional data is needed. 13
(c) The State Fire Prevention Commission with the cooperation of local 14
governments interested in participating shall study the availability of peer 15
support access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters to eva luate 16
the viability and sustainability of providing coverage for licensed 17
counseling and peer support access for volunteer firefighters. 18
(d) The study under subsection (c) of this section shall include: 19
(1) Evaluating possible ways to fund coverage fo r licensed 20
counseling for a traumatic event for volunteer firefighters; and 21
(2) Developing recommendations for potential legislation that is 22
necessary to implement coverage for licensed counseling for volunteer 23
firefighters. 24
(e) A report summarizing t he results of the study under this section 25
shall be filed with the Legislative Council no later than July 1, 2024. 26
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SECTION 3. DO NOT CODIFY. EFFECTIVE DATE. Section 1 of this act is 28
effective January 1, 2024. 29
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SECTION 4. DO NOT CODIFY. Expiration. This act expires January 1, 31
2025, unless extended by the General Assembly. 32
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/s/Wing 34
APPROVED: 4/11/23 35
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