One Week to Go, Seven Bills Left Standing

Members of the House and Senate slogged through the rain to complete business before the Legislature’s June 1, 2015 conclusion. The picture for workers’ compensation bills became clearer. Of the 13 bills we have been monitoring this session, six have been sent to the Governor (and he has signed one of those bills), two bills have work to do to see final passage in the Senate, and five are dead for the session. Here is the lineup as of Tuesday morning, May 26, 2015.

Passed and sent to the Governor’s office

Firefighter and EMT Presumptions: CSHB 1388, by Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston). The bill amends the Texas Government Code, and relates to the presumption that certain diseases and illnesses of firefighters and emergency medical technicians are workplace injuries and are covered under benefits and workers’ compensation systems. The bill requires a person seeking to rebut the presumption of compensability to offer a statement that describes in detail the evidence that the person reviewed before making the determination that a non-work-related factor caused the heart attack or stroke. The bill also requires a carrier to include language on its PLN-1 that explains why it determined that the presumption does not apply and to describe the evidence that it reviewed in making that determination.

Safety Reimbursement Plan: CSHB 2466, by Rep. Nicole Collier (D – Fort Worth). The bill is designed to help small employers and certain high-risk industries provide a safer workplace for their employees. Supporters say that the bill will give businesses more incentive to make their workplaces safer because they will be able to receive reimbursement for certain costs to implement small but important changes. Although the bill will take effect September 1, 2015, it will not apply to costs incurred by an eligible employer before January 1, 2016.

Emergency Responder Travel: CSHB 2771 by Rep. Armando Martinez (D-Weslaco). The bill provides that the travel of a firefighter or emergency medical personnel en route to an emergency call is considered to be in the course and scope of the firefighter’s or emergency medical personnel ’s employment. Language that would have placed the return trip home in the course and scope of employment was stripped from the bill in the House. The bill is limited in scope inasmuch as, by its terms, it applies only to firefighters and emergency medical personnel.

Increase in Burial Benefits: SB 653 by Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler). The bill increases the amount of burial benefits required to be paid by an insurance carrier under the workers’ compensation system from the present maximum payment of $6,000 to a maximum payment of $10,000. If signed by the governor, SB 653 will take effect September 1, 2015.

TIBs Increase for Low Wage Earners: SB 901 by Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler). Signed by the Governor on May 21, 2015. The bill increases weekly TIBs benefits for injured workers. The bill raises the low-wage-earner threshold for increased TIBs benefits from $8.50 per hour to $10.00 per hour. Employees who meet that criteria are entitled to 75% of their AWW for up to the first 26 weeks of their disability. The increase in benefits takes effect September 1, 2015. It applies to a claim for TIBs based on an injury date that occurs on or after September 1, 2015. A claim based on a compensable injury that occurs before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the compensable injury occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

Rate Filing Confidentiality: SB 978 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Beaumont). The bill amends current law relating to public information regarding workers’ compensation insurance rate filings. More specifically, the bill amends the workers’ compensation filings statute, Section 2053.004, Insurance Code, to provide proprietary confidentiality protections through Chapter 552, Government Code. The bill takes effect September 1, 2015.

Pending with Possible Chance of Passage

Discriminatory Discharge by Governmental Entities: HB 512 by Rep. Joe Moody (D – El Paso) is awaiting action in the Senate Business & Commerce Committee, having been favorably reported from the House.
The bill waives sovereign immunity by and authorizes a first responder employed by a state or local governmental entity who alleges an employer violation of statutory provisions prohibiting the discharge of or other discrimination against an employee in relation to a workers’ compensation claim to sue the governmental entity for the relief provided under Chapter 451 of the Texas Labor Code. The bill waives and abolishes sovereign or governmental immunity from suit to the extent of liability created by those statutory provisions but does not affect a person’s official or individual immunity from a claim for damages to the extent the person has such immunity. The bill limits the liability of a political subdivision in such an action to money damages in a maximum amount of $100,000 for each person aggrieved by a violation of the applicable statutory provisions. HB 512 was filed in response to the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Travis Central Appraisal District v. Norman, 342 S.W.3d 54 (Tex. 2011).

Death Benefits after Remarriage: HB 1094 by Rep. Charlie Geren (R-River Oaks) has been placed on the local and uncontested calendar in the Senate. The bill provides that surviving spouses of first responders will receive benefits for life, regardless of remarriage. One effect of the bill is to preclude redistribution of benefits to eligible children after an eligible spouse has remarried.

Dead this Session

Presumption Statute: HB 50 by Rep. Armando Martinez (D-Weslaco). The bill sought to expand the firefighter or EMT presumption of compensability for heart attack and cancer cases.

Confidential Communications: CSHB 687 by Rep. Kenneth Sheets (R-Dallas). This bill would have designated communications between the carrier, its defense counsel, and the policyholder to be confidential, and not subject to compelled disclosure to the claimant or his attorney. The bill was prompted by the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in In re XL Specialty Ins. Co., 373 S.W.3d 46 (Tex. 2012).

Statutory Employer: HB 1668 by Rep. Paul Workman (R-Austin). The bill provided that a subcontractor who is operating as an independent contractor and who has, pursuant to a written agreement with the general contractor, assumed the responsibilities of an employer for the performance of the work, may nevertheless enter into a written agreement whereby the general contractor provides workers’ compensation coverage to the subcontractor and the employees of the subcontractor. HB 1668 was apparently filed in response to the trial court’s judgment in TIC Energy & Chem., Inc. v. Martin, No. 13-14-00278-CV, 2015 WL 127777 (Tex. App. Jan. 8, 2015). In that case the 13th Court of Appeals held that the Act did not bar the suit of an injured worker who had been employed by a general contractor against a subcontractor.

Presumption Statute: HB 2854 by Rep. Armando Martinez (D-Weslaco). The bill sought to expand the firefighter or EMT presumption of compensability for heart attack and cancer cases.

Judicial Review Deadline: SB 1175 by Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler). This bill provided that the deadline for filing suit for judicial review runs from the date the appeals panel decision is filed, rather than the date it is mailed. The bill would also have changed the deadline from 45 days to 50 days.