By: Smithee (Senate Sponsor - Hughes) H.B. No. 1456
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2017;
May 1, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Business &
Commerce; May 9, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 9, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to judicial review of certain decisions under the Texas
Workers' Compensation Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 415.035, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 415.035. JUDICIAL REVIEW. [(a)] A decision under
Section 415.034 is subject to judicial review in the manner
provided for judicial review under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
[(b) If an administrative penalty is assessed, the person
charged shall:
[(1) forward the amount of the penalty to the division
for deposit in an escrow account; or
[(2) post with the division a bond for the amount of
the penalty, effective until all judicial review of the
determination is final.
[(c) Failure to comply with Subsection (b) results in a
waiver of all legal rights to contest the violation or the amount of
the penalty.
[(d) If the court determines that the penalty should not
have been assessed or reduces the amount of the penalty, the
division shall:
[(1) remit the appropriate amount, plus accrued
interest, if the administrative penalty was paid; or
[(2) release the bond.]
SECTION 2. Section 415.035, Labor Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to judicial review of a decision issued on or
after the effective date of this Act. Judicial review of a decision
issued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the decision was issued, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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, 2017.
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