84R11302 MCK-F
By: Martinez H.B. No. 2854
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain claims for benefits or compensation by
firefighters and emergency medical technicians or their survivors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 607.052(b) and (h), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) A presumption under this subchapter does not apply:
(1) [to a determination of a survivor's eligibility
for benefits under Chapter 615;
[(2)] in a cause of action brought in a state or
federal court except for judicial review of a proceeding in which
there has been a grant or denial of employment-related benefits or
compensation;
(2) [(3)] to a determination regarding benefits or
compensation under a life or disability insurance policy purchased
by or on behalf of the firefighter or emergency medical technician
that provides coverage in addition to any benefits or compensation
required by law; or
(3) [(4)] if the disease or illness for which benefits
or compensation is sought is known to be caused by the use of
tobacco and:
(A) the firefighter or emergency medical
technician is or has been a user of tobacco; or
(B) the firefighter's or emergency medical
technician's spouse has, during the marriage, been a user of
tobacco that is consumed through smoking.
(h) Subsection (b)(3) [(b)(4)] only prevents the
application of the presumption authorized by this subchapter and
does not affect the right of a firefighter or emergency medical
technician to provide proof, without the use of that presumption,
that an injury or illness occurred during the course and scope of
employment.
SECTION 2. Section 607.055, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 607.055. CANCER. (a) A firefighter or emergency
medical technician who suffers from cancer resulting in death or
total or partial disability is presumed to have developed the
cancer during the course and scope of employment as a firefighter or
emergency medical technician if:
(1) the firefighter or emergency medical technician:
(A) regularly responded on the scene to calls
involving fires or fire fighting; or
(B) regularly responded to an event involving the
documented release of radiation or a known or suspected carcinogen
while the person was employed as a firefighter or emergency medical
technician; and
(2) either:
(A) the cancer is known to be associated with
fire fighting or exposure to heat, smoke, radiation, or a known or
suspected carcinogen[,] as determined by the International Agency
for Research on Cancer; or
(B) the firefighter's or emergency medical
technician's treating physician believes, with reasonable medical
probability, that the cancer is not the result of other known causes
[described by Subsection (b)].
(b) The presumption established by Subsection (a) does not
apply to a type of cancer that has been proven to not be caused by
fire fighting or [This section applies only to a type of cancer that
may be caused by] exposure to heat, smoke, radiation, or a known or
suspected carcinogen [as determined by the International Agency for
Research on Cancer].
SECTION 3. Section 615.021(d), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) In a determination of whether the survivor of an
individual listed under Section 615.003 is eligible for the payment
of assistance under this chapter, any reasonable doubt arising from
the circumstances of the individual's death, including whether a
presumption under Subchapter B, Chapter 607, applies, shall be
resolved in favor of the payment of assistance to the survivor.
SECTION 4. 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, 2015.