By: Hefner, Lang, King of Parker, Guillen, H.B. No. 872
Herrero, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to financial assistance paid to the survivors of certain
law enforcement officers and other public employees killed in the
line of duty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 615.041, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 615.041. CONSIDERATION AND DETERMINATION [PROOF] OF
CLAIM; COMPELLED COMPLIANCE. (a) As soon as practicable after
the death of an individual listed under Section 615.003 that occurs
in the performance of duties in the individual's position as
described by Section 615.003 or as a result of an action that occurs
while the individual is performing those duties [is claimed to meet
the requirements of Section 615.021(1)], the individual's
employing entity shall furnish to the board of trustees of the
Employees Retirement System of Texas proof of the death in the form
and with additional evidence and information required by the board.
(b) The board of trustees shall consider the proof,
evidence, and information provided under Subsection (a), and any
additional information required by the rules adopted in accordance
with Section 615.002, to determine whether the individual's death
satisfies the eligibility requirements established under Section
615.021(a)(1) and justifies the payment of assistance to the
individual's eligible survivors under this chapter.
(c) If the individual's employing entity fails to comply
with Subsection (a), the attorney general may use any means
authorized by law, including filing suit for a writ of mandamus
against the employer, to compel the employer's compliance with this
section.
SECTION 2. Section 615.121(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The state shall pay the following benefits to an
eligible surviving spouse of a peace officer, a jailer, a county
jailer or guard, or an employee of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, as described by Section 615.003(1), (4), [or] (6), or (7),
who was killed in the line of duty and who had not qualified for an
annuity under an employees' retirement plan:
(1) funeral expenses related to the deceased person
[officer or employee]; and
(2) monthly payments that equal the greater of:
(A) the monthly annuity payment the deceased
person [officer or employee] would have received if the deceased
person [officer or employee] had survived, had retired on the last
day of the month in which the person [officer or employee] died, and
had been eligible to receive an annuity under an employees'
retirement plan; or
(B) the minimum monthly annuity payment the
deceased person [officer or employee] would have received if the
person [officer or employee] had been employed by the state for 10
years, had been paid a salary at the lowest amount provided by the
General Appropriations Act for a position of peace officer, jailer,
county jailer or guard, or employee of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, as described by Section 615.003(1), (4), [or]
(6), or (7), and had been eligible to retire under the Employees
Retirement System of Texas.
SECTION 3. Section 615.041, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies to the payment of assistance in connection with a
death that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. The
payment of assistance in connection with a death that occurs before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. Section 615.121(a), Government Code, as amended
by this Act, applies
to a payment of assistance to survivors of
certain law enforcement officers and employees on or after the
effective date of this Act regardless of the date the officer or
employee died.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.