By: West S.B. No. 1946
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to business leave time accounts for firefighter employee
organizations in certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 142, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 142.0135 to read as follows:
Sec. 142.0135. BUSINESS LEAVE TIME ACCOUNT FOR FIREFIGHTERS
IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies only to
firefighters employed by a municipality with a population of one
million or more that has not adopted Chapter 174 and to which
Chapter 143 does not apply.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Business leave" means leave taken for the purpose
of attending to the business of an employee organization.
(2) "Employee organization" includes:
(A) the Dallas Fire Fighters Association;
(B) the Dallas Black Fire Fighters Association;
and
(C) the Dallas Hispanic Firefighters
Association.
(c) A firefighter who is a member of an employee
organization may donate not more than one hour for each quarter of
accumulated leave time to the business leave time account of the
employee organization to which the firefighter belongs. The
municipality shall establish and maintain a separate business leave
time account for each employee organization that has approved or
ratified the use of business leave time by its members under this
section.
(d) Only a firefighter who is a member of an employee
organization may use for business leave purposes the time donated
to the account of the employee organization. A firefighter may use
for business leave purposes the time donated under this section
without receiving a reduction in salary and without reimbursing the
municipality.
(e) A request to use for business leave purposes the time in
an employee organization's time account must be in writing and be
submitted to the municipality by the president or the equivalent
officer of the employee organization or by that officer's designee.
(f) The municipality shall grant a request for business
leave that complies with Subsection (e) unless:
(1) denial of the request is necessary because of an
emergency; or
(2) a grant of the request will result in having an
insufficient number of firefighters to carry out the normal
functions of the municipality.
(g) The municipality shall account for the time donated to
each account and used from each account. The municipality shall
credit and debit an account on an hour-for-hour basis regardless of
the cash value of the time donated or used.
(h) An employee organization may not use for business leave
purposes more than 4,000 hours from its business leave time account
under this section in a calendar year unless the municipality
approves the use of hours in excess of 4,000. This subsection does
not prevent an employee organization from accumulating more than
4,000 hours, but only addresses the total number of donated hours
that an employee organization may use in any calendar year.
(i) The use of business leave by a firefighter under this
section is not a break in service for any purpose and is treated as
any other paid leave.
SECTION 2. 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, 2009.