bill adds chaplains to first responder illness presumptions

The text as introduced · 2,067 words

89R8159 RDS-D

By: Leo Wilson
H.B. No. 2387

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the entitlement to benefits for chaplains employed by

certain fire departments, police departments, and other law

enforcement agencies.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 607.001, Government Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 607.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "public safety

employee" means a peace officer, fire fighter, detention officer,

county jailer, or emergency medical services employee of this state

or a political subdivision of this state. For purposes of this

section, the term includes a chaplain as that term is defined by

Section 607.051.

SECTION 2. Section 607.051, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subdivision (5) to read as follows:

(5) "Chaplain" means an individual who is employed or

formally designated as a chaplain for:

(A) an organized volunteer firefighting unit or

other fire department of this state or of a political subdivision of

this state; or

(B) a law enforcement agency of this state or of a

political subdivision of this state.

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 chaplain, detention officer, custodial officer,

firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician who:

(1) on becoming employed or during employment as a

chaplain, detention officer, custodial officer, 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 chaplain,

firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician,

except for the presumption under former Section 607.0545; and

(3) seeks benefits or compensation for a disease or

illness covered by this subchapter that is discovered during

employment as a chaplain, detention officer, custodial officer,

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 chaplain, detention officer, custodial

officer, 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 chaplain, firefighter, peace officer, or

emergency medical technician is or has been a user of tobacco; or

(B) the chaplain's, 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 chaplain, detention officer, custodial officer,

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 chaplain,

detention officer, custodial officer, 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 chaplain, detention

officer, custodial officer, 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 chaplain, 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 chaplain, 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 chaplain,

firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician:

(1) received preventative immunization against

smallpox, or another disease to which the chaplain, 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

chaplain, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical

technician.

(d) A chaplain, 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 chaplain,

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) A chaplain, 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 chaplain, 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

chaplain, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical

technician.

(b) This section does not apply to a claim that a chaplain,

firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician

suffers from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

(SARS-CoV-2) or coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

SECTION 6. Section 607.056(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) A chaplain, 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 chaplain, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency

medical technician if:

(1) while on duty, the chaplain, 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 chaplain, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency

medical technician was engaging in the activity described under

Subdivision (1).

SECTION 7. Section 607.057, Government Code, is 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 chaplain's,

detention officer's, custodial officer's, 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.

SECTION 8. Section 607.058, Government Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 607.058. PRESUMPTION REBUTTABLE. (a) A presumption

under Section 607.053, 607.054, [ 607.0545, ] 607.055, or 607.056 or

former Section 607.0545 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

chaplain, detention officer, custodial officer, firefighter, peace

officer, or emergency medical technician was a substantial factor

in bringing about the individual's disease or illness, without

which the disease or illness would not have occurred.

(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 chaplain, detention officer, custodial officer,

firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical technician was a

substantial factor in bringing about the individual's disease or

illness, without which the disease or illness would not have

occurred.

(c) In addressing an argument based on a rebuttal offered

under this section, an administrative law judge shall make findings

of fact and conclusions of law that consider whether a qualified

expert, relying on evidence-based medicine, stated the opinion

that, based on reasonable medical probability, an identified risk

factor, accident, hazard, or other cause not associated with the

individual's service as a chaplain, detention officer, custodial

officer, firefighter, peace officer, or emergency medical

technician was a substantial factor in bringing about the

individual's disease or illness, without which the disease or

illness would not have occurred.

SECTION 9. Sections 504.019(b) and (c), Labor Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(b) Post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by a first

responder or an individual employed as a chaplain by a fire

department or law enforcement organization of a political

subdivision of this state is a compensable injury under this

subtitle only if it is based on a diagnosis that:

(1) the disorder is caused by one or more events

occurring in the course and scope of the first responder's or

chaplain's employment; and

(2) the preponderance of the evidence indicates that

the event or events were a producing cause of the disorder.

(c) For purposes of this subtitle, the date of injury for

post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by a first responder or

chaplain described by Subsection (b) is the date on which the first

responder or chaplain first knew or should have known that the

disorder may be related to the first responder's or chaplain's

employment.

SECTION 10. Sections 177A.003(a), (c), and (d), Local

Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A political subdivision shall provide to a firefighter,

police officer, [ or ] emergency medical services personnel , or

individual employed as a chaplain by a fire department or police

department of a political subdivision a leave of absence for an

illness or injury related to the person's line of duty. The leave

is with full pay for a period commensurate with the nature of the

line of duty illness or injury. If necessary, the political

subdivision shall continue the leave for at least one year.

(c) If the firefighter, police officer, [ or ] emergency

medical services personnel , or individual employed as a chaplain by

a fire department or police department of a political subdivision

is temporarily disabled by a line of duty injury or illness and the

leave of absence and any extension granted by the governing body has

expired, the person may use accumulated sick leave, vacation time,

and other accrued benefits before the person is placed on temporary

leave.

(d) If the leave of absence and any extension granted by the

governing body has expired, a firefighter, police officer, [ or ]

emergency medical services personnel , or individual employed as a

chaplain by a fire department or police department of a political

subdivision who requires additional leave described by this section

shall be placed on temporary leave.

SECTION 11. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter

607, Government Code, apply only to a claim for benefits or

compensation brought on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 12. Section 504.019, Labor Code, as amended 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 13. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter

177A, Local Government Code, apply only to a collective bargaining,

meet and confer, or other similar agreement entered into on or after

the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 14. This Act takes effect immediately if it

receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each

house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.

If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate

effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.