Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1306 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Landgraf H.B. No. 1306
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to certain claims for benefits or compensation by a
9	9	coroner, medical examiner, or death investigator.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 607.001, 607.002, and 607.003,
12	12	Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 607.001. DEFINITIONS [DEFINITION]. (a) In this
14	14	chapter, "public safety employee" means a peace officer, fire
15	15	fighter, detention officer, county jailer, or emergency medical
16	16	services employee of this state or a political subdivision of this
17	17	state.
18	18	(b) In this subchapter, "death investigation professional"
19	19	means a coroner, medical examiner, or death investigator employed
20	20	by a political subdivision of this state.
21	21	Sec. 607.002. REIMBURSEMENT. A public safety employee or
22	22	death investigation professional who is exposed to a contagious
23	23	disease is entitled to reimbursement from the employing
24	24	governmental entity for reasonable medical expenses incurred in
25	25	treatment for the prevention of the disease if:
26	26	(1) the disease is not an "ordinary disease of life" as
27	27	that term is used in the context of a workers' compensation claim;
28	28	(2) the exposure to the disease occurs during the
29	29	course of the employment; and
30	30	(3) the employee or professional requires
31	31	preventative medical treatment because of exposure to the disease.
32	32	Sec. 607.003. PHYSICIAN OF CHOICE. A public safety
33	33	employee or death investigation professional who is exposed to a
34	34	disease described by Section 607.002 is entitled to be treated for
35	35	the prevention of that disease by the physician of the employee's or
36	36	professional's choice.
37	37	SECTION 2. Section 607.004, Government Code, is amended by
38	38	adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
39	39	(a-1) A death investigation professional is entitled to
40	40	preventative immunization for any disease to which the death
41	41	investigation professional may be exposed in performing the
42	42	professional's duties and for which immunization is possible.
43	43	SECTION 3. Section 615.003, Government Code, is amended to
44	44	read as follows:
45	45	Sec. 615.003. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
46	46	eligible survivors of the following individuals:
47	47	(1) an individual:
48	48	(A) elected, appointed, or employed as a peace
49	49	officer by the state or a political subdivision of the state under
50	50	Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law; or
51	51	(B) employed as a peace officer by a private
52	52	institution of higher education, including a private junior
53	53	college, that is located in this state under Section 51.212,
54	54	Education Code;
55	55	(2) a paid probation officer appointed by the director
56	56	of a community supervision and corrections department who has the
57	57	duties set out in Section 76.002 and the qualifications set out in
58	58	Section 76.005, or who was appointed in accordance with prior law;
59	59	(3) a parole officer employed by the Texas Department
60	60	of Criminal Justice who has the duties set out in Section 508.001
61	61	and the qualifications set out in Section 508.113 or in prior law;
62	62	(4) a paid jailer;
63	63	(5) a member of an organized police reserve or
64	64	auxiliary unit who regularly assists peace officers in enforcing
65	65	criminal laws;
66	66	(6) a member of the class of employees of the
67	67	correctional institutions division formally designated as
68	68	custodial personnel under Section 615.006 by the Texas Board of
69	69	Criminal Justice or its predecessor in function;
70	70	(7) a jailer or guard of a county jail who is appointed
71	71	by the sheriff and who:
72	72	(A) performs a security, custodial, or
73	73	supervisory function over the admittance, confinement, or
74	74	discharge of prisoners; and
75	75	(B) is certified by the Texas Commission on Law
76	76	Enforcement;
77	77	(8) a juvenile correctional employee of the Texas
78	78	Juvenile Justice Department;
79	79	(9) an employee of the Health and Human Services
80	80	Commission [Department of Aging and Disability Services] or
81	81	Department of State Health Services who:
82	82	(A) works at the department's maximum security
83	83	unit; or
84	84	(B) performs on-site services for the Texas
85	85	Department of Criminal Justice;
86	86	(10) an individual who is employed by the state or a
87	87	political or legal subdivision and is subject to certification by
88	88	the Texas Commission on Fire Protection;
89	89	(11) an individual employed by the state or a
90	90	political or legal subdivision whose principal duties are aircraft
91	91	crash and rescue fire fighting;
92	92	(12) a member of an organized volunteer fire-fighting
93	93	unit that:
94	94	(A) renders fire-fighting services without
95	95	remuneration; and
96	96	(B) conducts a minimum of two drills each month,
97	97	each two hours long;
98	98	(13) an individual who:
99	99	(A) performs emergency medical services or
100	100	operates an ambulance;
101	101	(B) is employed by a political subdivision of the
102	102	state or is an emergency medical services volunteer as defined by
103	103	Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code; and
104	104	(C) is qualified as an emergency care attendant
105	105	or at a higher level of training under Section 773.046, 773.047,
106	106	773.048, 773.049, or 773.0495, Health and Safety Code;
107	107	(14) an individual who is employed or formally
108	108	designated as a chaplain for:
109	109	(A) an organized volunteer fire-fighting unit or
110	110	other fire department of this state or of a political subdivision of
111	111	this state;
112	112	(B) a law enforcement agency of this state or of a
113	113	political subdivision of this state; or
114	114	(C) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice;
115	115	(15) an individual who is employed by the state or a
116	116	political subdivision of the state and who is considered by the
117	117	governmental employer to be a trainee for a position otherwise
118	118	described by this section;
119	119	(16) an individual who is employed by the Department
120	120	of Public Safety and, as certified by the director, is:
121	121	(A) deployed into the field in direct support of
122	122	a law enforcement operation, including patrol, investigative,
123	123	search and rescue, crime scene, on-site communications, or special
124	124	operations; and
125	125	(B) given a special assignment in direct support
126	126	of operations relating to organized crime, criminal interdiction,
127	127	border security, counterterrorism, intelligence, traffic
128	128	enforcement, emergency management, regulatory services, or special
129	129	investigations; [or]
130	130	(17) an individual who is employed by the Parks and
131	131	Wildlife Department and, as certified by the executive director of
132	132	the Parks and Wildlife Department, is:
133	133	(A) deployed into the field in direct support of
134	134	a law enforcement operation, including patrol, investigative,
135	135	search and rescue, crime scene, on-site communications, or special
136	136	operations; and
137	137	(B) given a special assignment in direct support
138	138	of operations relating to organized crime, criminal interdiction,
139	139	border security, counterterrorism, intelligence, traffic
140	140	enforcement, emergency management, regulatory services, or special
141	141	investigations; or
142	142	(18) an individual who is employed by a political
143	143	subdivision of this state as a coroner, medical examiner, or death
144	144	investigator.
145	145	SECTION 4. Section 504.055, Labor Code, is amended to read
146	146	as follows:
147	147	(a) In this section, "first responder" means:
148	148	(1) an individual employed by a political subdivision
149	149	of this state who is:
150	150	(A) a peace officer under Article 2A.001, Code of
151	151	Criminal Procedure;
152	152	(B) a person licensed under Chapter 773, Health
153	153	and Safety Code, as an emergency care attendant, emergency medical
154	154	technician, emergency medical technician-intermediate, emergency
155	155	medical technician-paramedic, or licensed paramedic; or
156	156	(C) a firefighter subject to certification by the
157	157	Texas Commission on Fire Protection under Chapter 419, Government
158	158	Code, whose principal duties are firefighting and aircraft crash
159	159	and rescue; or
160	160	(D) a death investigation professional, as
161	161	defined by Section 607.001, Government Code; or
162	162	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
163	163	claim for benefits or compensation pending on or filed on or after
164	164	the effective date of this Act. A claim for benefits or
165	165	compensation filed before that date, other than a claim pending on
166	166	that date, is governed by the law in effect on the date the claim was
167	167	made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
168	168	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.