By: Kacal, et al. (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 2119
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2017;
May 11, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Business &
Commerce; May 21, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 1; May 21, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to workers' compensation death benefit eligibility for
certain spouses of first responders killed in the line of duty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 408.183(b-1), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an eligible spouse
who remarried is eligible for death benefits for life if the
employee was a first responder, as defined by Section 504.055, who
suffered death in the course and scope of employment or while
providing services as a volunteer. This subsection applies
regardless of the date on which the death of the first responder
occurred.
SECTION 2. Section 2, Chapter 1018 (H.B. 1094), Acts of the
84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act to Section
408.183, Labor Code, applies only to an eligible spouse who
remarries on or after the effective date of this Act. An eligible
spouse who remarried before that date is governed by the law as it
existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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