85R959 JSC-D
By: Whitmire S.B. No. 1722
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of a firefighter or a peace officer for
workers' compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 504, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 504.019 to read as follows:
Sec. 504.019. COVERAGE FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
FOR CERTAIN FIREFIGHTERS AND PEACE OFFICERS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Firefighter" means an individual employed by a
political subdivision of this state who is a firefighter subject
to certification by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection under
Chapter 419, Government Code, whose principal duties are
firefighting and aircraft crash and rescue.
(2) "Peace officer" means a person elected, employed,
or appointed as a peace officer under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, or other law.
(3) "Post-traumatic stress disorder" means a disorder
that:
(A) meets the diagnostic criteria for
post-traumatic stress disorder specified by the American
Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, fifth edition, or a later edition adopted by the
commissioner of workers' compensation; and
(B) results in an impairment of a person's
functioning in the person's community, employment, family, school,
or social group.
(b) Post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by a
firefighter or peace officer is a compensable injury under this
subtitle only if:
(1) the disorder is caused by events occurring in the
course and scope of the firefighter's or peace officer's
employment; and
(2) the preponderance of the evidence indicates that
the firefighter's or peace officer's work was a substantial
contributing factor of the disorder.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a claim for workers' compensation 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
that date is governed by the law as it existed 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, 2017.