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  H.B. No. 2751
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to participation and credit in, benefits from, and the
  administration of the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 861.001, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subdivision (10) and adding Subdivision (11-a) to read as
  follows:
               (10)  "Qualified service" means service:
                     (A)  for a participating department that is
  recognized as an emergency services department by its governing
  body and that conducts at least 48 hours of training in a calendar
  year; and
                     (B)  that is performed by a member in good
  standing in the department who:
                           (i)  attends at least 20 hours of annual
  training and at least 25 percent of the department's emergencies in
  a calendar year;
                           (ii)  attends at least 20 hours of annual
  training and provides support services for at least 25 percent of
  the department's emergencies in a calendar year; or
                           (iii) [or who] does not attend because the
  member is absent because of military duty.
               (11-a)  "Support services" means services that
  directly assist in the delivery of emergency services. The term
  includes directing traffic at an emergency scene, dispatching
  emergency services personnel, driving an emergency services
  vehicle, supplying or maintaining equipment at an emergency scene,
  providing essential recordkeeping for a participating department,
  and other similar services as determined by a department.
         SECTION 2.  Section 862.002(b), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  A person is not a member of the pension system if the
  person:
               (1)  is less than 18 years of age;
               (2)  is in a probationary period of service before
  becoming a regular member of a participating department for which
  the department is not making contributions for the service;
               (3)  does not receive a certification of physical
  fitness or assignment to perform support services [duties] under
  Section 862.003; or
               (4)  is retired under this subtitle, regardless of
  whether the person continues to participate in emergency
  service-related functions for a department from which the person
  retired.
         SECTION 3.  Chapter 862, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Section 862.0025 to read as follows:
         Sec. 862.0025.  MEMBERSHIP BY SUPPORT STAFF. (a) Except as
  provided by Subsection (b), the governing body of a participating
  department may make an election to include all persons who provide
  support services for the department as members of the pension
  system on the same terms as all other volunteers of the department.
  An election under this section takes effect on the first day of the
  calendar month that begins after the month in which the election is
  made and communicated to the commissioner. Once made, an election
  under this section is irrevocable.
         (b)  If a participating department has, before September 1,
  2009, enrolled persons who perform support services for the
  department as members of the pension system, all persons who
  perform those services for the department are members of the
  system.
         (c)  After an election under this section, a participating
  department that previously did not enroll its support staff as
  members of the pension system may purchase service credit performed
  before the date of the election under the terms required for prior
  service credit for service before departmental participation.
         SECTION 4.  Section 862.003, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 862.003.  CERTIFICATION OF PHYSICAL FITNESS.  (a)  A
  prospective member shall present to the local head of the
  department, for delivery to the local board, a certification of
  physical fitness by a qualified physician.  The person becomes a
  member of the pension system if the local board accepts the
  certification or if the local board assigns the person to perform
  support services and enrolls its support staff as members of the
  system [duties].
         (b)  A local board shall assign a person to perform support
  services [duties] if the person does not present an acceptable
  certification and the person is at least 18 years of age, is not
  retired from the pension system, and is not serving a probationary
  period before becoming a regular member of a participating
  department.
         SECTION 5.  Chapter 863, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Section 863.005 to read as follows:
         Sec. 863.005.  CHARGE FOR CERTAIN PAST DUE CONTRIBUTIONS.
  The state board by rule may impose an interest charge on
  contributions due because of a correction of an error by a local
  board related to enrollment or qualified service. The charge must
  be based on the pension system's current assumed rate of return.
  Charges collected shall be deposited in the fund.
         SECTION 6.  Section 864.007, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 864.007.  MEMBER NONSERVICE DEATH BENEFIT.  (a)  The
  state board by rule may provide one or more beneficiaries [the
  beneficiary] of a deceased member whose death did not result from
  the performance of emergency service duties a benefit, which may be
  a lump-sum amount or an annuity.
         (b)  A rule adopted under this section must include the type
  of eligible recipient of the benefit, including any service or age
  requirement, and the method of calculating the amount of the
  benefit. A rule may include any other terms the board considers
  appropriate.
         SECTION 7.  Chapter 864, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Section 864.015 to read as follows:
         Sec. 864.015.  BENEFICIARY CAUSING DEATH OF MEMBER OR
  ANNUITANT. (a) A benefit payable on the death of a member or
  annuitant may not be paid to a person convicted of causing that
  death but instead is payable as if the convicted person had
  predeceased the decedent.
         (b)  The pension system is not required to change the
  recipient of benefits under this section unless it receives actual
  notice of the conviction of a beneficiary. The system may delay
  payment of a benefit payable on the death of a member or annuitant
  pending the results of a criminal investigation and of legal
  proceedings relating to the cause of death.
         (c)  The pension system is not liable for any benefit paid to
  a convicted person before the date the system receives actual
  notice of the conviction, and any payment made before that date is a
  complete discharge of the system's obligation with regard to that
  benefit payment. The convicted person holds all payments received
  in constructive trust for the rightful recipient.
         (d)  For the purposes of this section, a person has been
  convicted of causing the death of a member or annuitant if the
  person:
               (1)  pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or is found
  guilty by a court of, an offense at the trial of which it is
  established that the person's intentional, knowing, or reckless act
  or omission resulted in the death of a person who was a member or
  annuitant, regardless of whether sentence is imposed or probated;
  and
               (2)  has no appeal of the conviction pending and the
  time provided for appeal has expired.
         SECTION 8.  Chapter 865, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Section 865.020 to read as follows:
         Sec. 865.020.  MEDICAL BOARD. (a) The state board shall
  designate a medical board composed of three physicians.
         (b)  To be eligible to serve as a member of the medical board,
  a physician must be licensed to practice medicine in the state and
  be of good standing in the medical profession. A physician who is
  eligible to participate in the pension system may not be a member of
  the medical board.
         (c)  The medical board shall:
               (1)  investigate essential statements and certificates
  made by or on behalf of a member of the pension system in connection
  with an application for disability retirement or, as requested by
  the commissioner, with an application for an on-duty death benefit;
  and
               (2)  report in writing to the commissioner its
  conclusions and recommendations on all matters referred to it.
         (d)  The medical board is not subject to subpoena regarding
  findings it makes in assisting the commissioner under this section,
  and its members may not be held liable for any opinions,
  conclusions, or recommendations made under this section.
         SECTION 9.  Sections 864.008 and 865.001(c), Government
  Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2751 was passed by the House on April
  22, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 149, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 2751 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0,
  2 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2751 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor