86R7944 AAF-D
By: Wray H.B. No. 1492
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to benefits for peace officers who suffer from certain
diseases or illnesses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 607,
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. DISEASES OR ILLNESSES SUFFERED BY FIREFIGHTERS,
PEACE OFFICERS, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS
SECTION 2. Section 607.051, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
(4) "Peace officer" means an individual elected,
appointed, or employed to serve as a peace officer for a
governmental entity under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure,
or other law.
SECTION 3. Sections 607.052(a), (b), (e), (g), and (h),
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, this subchapter applies
only to a firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician who:
(1) on becoming employed or during employment as a
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician,
received a physical examination that failed to reveal evidence of
the illness or disease for which benefits or compensation are
sought using a presumption established by this subchapter;
(2) is employed for five or more years as a
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician; and
(3) seeks benefits or compensation for a disease or
illness covered by this subchapter that is discovered during
employment as a firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician.
(b) A presumption under this subchapter does not apply:
(1) to a determination of a survivor's eligibility for
benefits under Chapter 615;
(2) in a cause of action brought in a state or federal
court except for judicial review of a proceeding in which there has
been a grant or denial of employment-related benefits or
compensation;
(3) to a determination regarding benefits or
compensation under a life or disability insurance policy purchased
by or on behalf of the firefighter, peace officer, or emergency
medical technician that provides coverage in addition to any
benefits or compensation required by law; or
(4) if the disease or illness for which benefits or
compensation is sought is known to be caused by the use of tobacco
and:
(A) the firefighter, peace officer, or emergency
medical technician is or has been a user of tobacco; or
(B) the firefighter's, peace officer's, or
emergency medical technician's spouse has, during the marriage,
been a user of tobacco that is consumed through smoking.
(e) A firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician who uses a presumption established under this subchapter
is entitled only to the benefits or compensation to which the
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician would
otherwise be entitled to receive at the time the claim for benefits
or compensation is filed.
(g) This subchapter applies to a firefighter, peace
officer, or emergency medical technician who provides services as
an employee of an entity created by an interlocal agreement.
(h) Subsection (b)(4) only prevents the application of the
presumption authorized by this subchapter and does not affect the
right of a firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician to provide proof, without the use of that presumption,
that an injury or illness occurred during the course and scope of
employment.
SECTION 4. Sections 607.053(a), (c), and (d), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician is presumed to have suffered a disability or death
during the course and scope of employment if the firefighter, peace
officer, or emergency medical technician:
(1) received preventative immunization against
smallpox, or another disease to which the firefighter, peace
officer, or emergency medical technician may be exposed during the
course and scope of employment and for which immunization is
possible; and
(2) suffered death or total or partial disability as a
result of the immunization.
(c) A presumption established under Subsection (a) may not
be rebutted by evidence that the immunization was:
(1) not required by the employer;
(2) not required by law; or
(3) received voluntarily or with the consent of the
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician.
(d) A firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician who suffers from smallpox that results in death or total
or partial disability is presumed to have contracted the disease
during the course and scope of employment as a firefighter, peace
officer, or emergency medical technician.
SECTION 5. Section 607.054, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 607.054. TUBERCULOSIS OR OTHER RESPIRATORY ILLNESS. A
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician who
suffers from tuberculosis, or any other disease or illness of the
lungs or respiratory tract that has a statistically positive
correlation with service as a firefighter, peace officer, or
emergency medical technician, that results in death or total or
partial disability is presumed to have contracted the disease or
illness during the course and scope of employment as a firefighter,
peace officer, or emergency medical technician.
SECTION 6. Section 607.056(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician who suffers an acute myocardial infarction or stroke
resulting in disability or death is presumed to have suffered the
disability or death during the course and scope of employment as a
firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician if:
(1) while on duty, the firefighter, peace officer, or
emergency medical technician:
(A) was engaged in a situation that involved
nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity involving fire
suppression, rescue, hazardous material response, emergency
medical services, or other emergency response activity; or
(B) participated in a training exercise that
involved nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity; and
(2) the acute myocardial infarction or stroke occurred
while the firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician was engaging in the activity described under Subdivision
(1).
SECTION 7. Sections 607.057 and 607.058, Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 607.057. EFFECT OF PRESUMPTION. Except as provided by
Section 607.052(b), a presumption established under this
subchapter applies to a determination of whether a firefighter's,
peace officer's, or emergency medical technician's disability or
death resulted from a disease or illness contracted in the course
and scope of employment for purposes of benefits or compensation
provided under another employee benefit, law, or plan, including a
pension plan.
Sec. 607.058. PRESUMPTION REBUTTABLE. (a) A presumption
under Section 607.053, 607.054, 607.055, or 607.056 may be rebutted
through a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that a risk
factor, accident, hazard, or other cause not associated with the
individual's service as a firefighter, peace officer, or emergency
medical technician caused the individual's disease or illness.
(b) A rebuttal offered under this section must include a
statement by the person offering the rebuttal that describes, in
detail, the evidence that the person reviewed before making the
determination that a cause not associated with the individual's
service as a firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical
technician caused the individual's disease or illness.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
claim for benefits or compensation brought on or after the
effective date of this Act. A claim for benefits or compensation
brought before that date is covered by the law in effect on the date
the claim was made, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.