By: Sheets, Sanford H.B. No. 2924
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to military leave time accounts for police and fire
departments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 143.075, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A municipality shall maintain military leave time
accounts for the fire and police departments and must maintain a
separate military leave time account for each department.
(b) A military leave time account shall benefit a fire
fighter or police officer who:
(1) Is a member of the Texas National Guard or the
armed forces reserves of the United States;
(2) Was called to active federal military duty while
serving as a fire fighter or police officer for the municipality;
(3) Has served on active duty for a period of 12 3
continuous months or longer; and
(4) Has exhausted the balance of the person's
vacation, holiday, and compensatory leave time accumulations.
(c) A fire fighter or police officer may donate any amount
of accumulated vacation, holiday, sick, or compensatory leave time
to the military leave time account in that fire fighter's or police
officer's department to help provide salary continuation for fire
fighters or police officers who qualify as eligible beneficiaries
of the account under Subsection (b). A fire fighter or police
officer who wishes to donate time to an account under this section
must authorize the donation in writing on a form provided by the
fire or police department and approved by the municipality.
(d) A municipality shall equally distribute the leave time
donated to a military leave time account among all fire fighters or
police officers who are eligible beneficiaries of that account.
The municipality shall credit and debit the applicable military
leave time account on an hourly basis regardless of the cash value
of the time donated or used.
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, 2013.