Bill Text: TX HB90 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to benefits for certain members of the Texas military forces and survivors of members of the Texas military forces.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 59-17)

Status: (Passed) 2023-06-12 - Effective on 9/1/23 [HB90 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB90-Comm_Sub.html

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88R15163 RDS-D
By: Patterson, Buckley, Cook, Raymond, Shine, H.B. No. 90
et al.
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 90:
By: Wilson C.S.H.B. No. 90

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to benefits for certain members of the Texas military
forces and survivors of members of the Texas military forces.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Bishop Evans Act.
SECTION 2. Section 615.004(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A finding that assistance is payable to an eligible
survivor of an individual listed under Section 615.003 or 615.024
is not a declaration of the cause, nature, or effect of a death for
any other purpose.
SECTION 3. Section 615.021(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Payment of assistance may not occur under this
subchapter unless an individual is eligible under Subsection (a) or
Section 615.024.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 615, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 615.024 to read as follows:
Sec. 615.024. PAYMENT TO SURVIVORS OF MEMBERS OF TEXAS
MILITARY FORCES. (a) In this section, "state active duty" and
"Texas military forces" have the meanings assigned by Section
437.001.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 615.003 or 615.021, a survivor
of an individual who is a member of the Texas military forces is
eligible for the payment of assistance under this chapter if:
(1) the individual died while on state active duty;
(2) the Texas Military Department certifies to the
Employees Retirement System of Texas that the circumstances of the
individual's death entitle an eligible survivor to the payment of
assistance under this chapter; and
(3) the survivor is:
(A) the surviving spouse of the individual;
(B) a surviving child of the individual, if there
is no surviving spouse; or
(C) the surviving parent of the individual, if
there is no surviving spouse or child.
(c) The Texas Military Department shall adopt rules
providing the circumstances under which the death of an individual
described by Subsection (b) entitles an eligible survivor to the
payment of assistance under this chapter.
SECTION 5. Sections 615.045(a), (c), and (d), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Records of individuals listed by Section 615.003 or
described by Section 615.024 and of survivors eligible for benefits
under this chapter that are in the custody of the Employees
Retirement System of Texas, an administering firm as defined by
Section 1551.003, Insurance Code, a carrier as defined by Section
1551.007, Insurance Code, or another governmental agency acting
with or on behalf of the retirement system are confidential and not
subject to public disclosure, and the retirement system,
administering firm, carrier, or governmental agency is not required
to accept or comply with a request for a record or information about
a record or to seek an opinion from the attorney general, because
the records are exempt from the provisions of Chapter 552, except as
otherwise provided by this section.
(c) The records of individuals listed by Section 615.003 or
described by Section 615.024 and of eligible survivors remain
confidential after release to a person as authorized by this
section. The records of individuals listed by Section 615.003 or
described by Section 615.024 and of eligible survivors may become
part of the public record of an administrative or judicial
proceeding related to an appeal filed under this chapter, unless
the records are closed to public access by a protective order issued
under applicable law.
(d) The retirement system has sole discretion in
determining whether a record is subject to this section. For
purposes of this section, a record includes any identifying
information about any person, living or deceased, who is or was:
(1) an individual listed in Section 615.003 or
described by Section 615.024; or
(2) a survivor, heir, or beneficiary of an individual
listed in Section 615.003 or described by Section 615.024.
SECTION 6. Subchapter C, Chapter 401, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 401.027 to read as follows:
Sec. 401.027. APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN MEMBERS OF TEXAS
MILITARY FORCES. (a) In this section, "state active duty" and
"Texas military forces" have the meanings assigned by Section
437.001, Government Code.
(b) For purposes of this subtitle, the travel of a member of
the Texas military forces to or from the member's duty location is
considered to be in the course and scope of the member's employment.
SECTION 7. Section 501.001, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subdivisions (5-a) and (6-a) to read as follows:
(5-a) "Post-traumatic stress disorder" has the
meaning assigned by Section 504.019.
(6-a) "State active duty" and "Texas military forces"
have the meanings assigned by Section 437.001, Government Code.
SECTION 8. Subchapter B, Chapter 501, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Sections 501.027, 501.028, and 501.029 to read as
follows:
Sec. 501.027. COVERAGE FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
FOR MEMBERS OF TEXAS MILITARY FORCES. (a) Post-traumatic stress
disorder suffered by a member of the Texas military forces on state
active duty 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 member's state active duty;
and
(2) the preponderance of evidence indicates that the
event or events were a producing cause of the disorder.
(b) For purposes of this subtitle, the date of injury for
post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by a member of the Texas
military forces is the date on which the member knew or should have
known that the disorder may be related to the member's state active
duty.
Sec. 501.028. EXPEDITED PROVISION OF MEDICAL BENEFITS FOR
CERTAIN INJURIES SUSTAINED BY CERTAIN MEMBERS OF TEXAS MILITARY
FORCES ON STATE ACTIVE DUTY. (a) This section applies only to a
member of the Texas military forces who sustains a serious bodily
injury, as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code, on state active
duty.
(b) An insurance carrier shall accelerate and give priority
to a claim for medical benefits by a member of the Texas military
forces to which this section applies, including all health care
required to cure or relieve the effects naturally resulting from a
compensable injury described by Subsection (a).
(c) The division shall accelerate, under rules adopted by
the commissioner of workers' compensation, a contested case hearing
requested by or an appeal submitted by a member of the Texas
military forces to which this section applies regarding the denial
of a claim for medical benefits, including all health care required
to cure or relieve the effects naturally resulting from a
compensable injury described by Subsection (a). The member shall
provide notice to the division and independent review organization
that the contested case or appeal involves a member of the Texas
military forces.
Sec. 501.029. INTENT OF EXPEDITED PROVISION OF MEDICAL
BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN INJURIES SUSTAINED BY CERTAIN MEMBERS OF TEXAS
MILITARY FORCES. The purpose of Section 501.028 is to ensure that a
claim for medical benefits by an injured member of the Texas
military forces to which this section applies is accelerated by an
insurance carrier to the full extent authorized by current law.
SECTION 9. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Chapter 615, Government Code, relating to the death of a member of
the Texas military forces applies only to a death that occurs on or
after the effective date of this Act. The death of a member of the
Texas military forces that occurs before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the death occurred,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act relating to a claim
for workers' compensation benefits by a member of the Texas
military forces apply 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 in effect on the
date that the compensable injury occurred, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.