| 1 | 1 | | By: Meza H.B. No. 1305 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to a cost-of-living increase applicable to death benefits |
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| 7 | 7 | | paid under the workers' compensation system. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 408.181, Labor Code, is amended by |
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| 10 | 10 | | amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as |
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| 11 | 11 | | follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (b) Subject to Section 408.061, the amount of a death |
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| 13 | 13 | | benefit is equal to 75 percent of the employee's average weekly |
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| 14 | 14 | | wage. Notwithstanding Section 408.061, the amount of a death |
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| 15 | 15 | | benefit is adjusted in accordance with Subsection (b-1) each |
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| 16 | 16 | | calendar year as necessary to reflect inflation. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (b-1) Not later than November 1 of each year, the |
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| 18 | 18 | | commissioner shall set the rate of the adjustment described by |
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| 19 | 19 | | Subsection (b) for the next calendar year to equal the percentage |
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| 20 | 20 | | increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners |
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| 21 | 21 | | and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) most recently published by the Bureau |
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| 22 | 22 | | of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor and |
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| 23 | 23 | | used by the United States Social Security Administration to provide |
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| 24 | 24 | | a cost-of-living adjustment for social security benefit payments |
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| 25 | 25 | | payable beginning in January of the next year. Not later than |
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| 26 | 26 | | January 1 of each year, an insurance carrier shall recompute the |
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| 27 | 27 | | amount of a death benefit to be paid under this section by applying |
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| 28 | 28 | | the adjustment computed by the commissioner under this subsection |
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| 29 | 29 | | to the amount otherwise required to be paid under Subsection (b). |
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| 30 | 30 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 31 | 31 | | to a claim for workers' compensation benefits based on a |
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| 32 | 32 | | compensable injury that occurs on or after the effective date of |
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| 33 | 33 | | this Act. A claim based on a compensable injury that occurs before |
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| 34 | 34 | | the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on |
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| 35 | 35 | | the date the compensable injury occurred, and the former law is |
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| 36 | 36 | | continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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