84R5856 KKR-F By: Eltife S.B. No. 653 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to increasing the amount of burial benefits required to be paid by an insurance carrier under the workers' compensation system. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 408.186(a), Labor Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) If the death of an employee results from a compensable injury, the insurance carrier shall pay to the person who incurred liability for the costs of burial the lesser of: (1) the actual costs incurred for reasonable burial expenses; or (2) $10,000 [$6,000]. SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a claim for workers' compensation burial benefits based on a compensable injury that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. A claim based on a compensable injury that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the compensable injury occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.