85R959 JSC-D
 
  By: Wray H.B. No. 1983
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the eligibility of a firefighter or a peace officer for
  workers' compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 504, Labor Code, is
  amended by adding Section 504.019 to read as follows:
         Sec. 504.019.  COVERAGE FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
  FOR CERTAIN FIREFIGHTERS AND PEACE OFFICERS. (a)  In this section:
               (1)  "Firefighter" means an individual employed by a
  political subdivision of this state who is  a firefighter subject
  to certification by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection under
  Chapter 419, Government Code, whose principal duties are
  firefighting and aircraft crash and rescue.
               (2)  "Peace officer" means a person elected, employed,
  or appointed as a peace officer under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, or other law.
               (3)  "Post-traumatic stress disorder" means a disorder
  that:
                     (A)  meets the diagnostic criteria for
  post-traumatic stress disorder specified by the American
  Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
  Mental Disorders, fifth edition, or a later edition adopted by the
  commissioner of workers' compensation; and
                     (B)  results in an impairment of a person's
  functioning in the person's community, employment, family, school,
  or social group.
         (b)  Post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by a
  firefighter or peace officer is a compensable injury under this
  subtitle only if:
               (1)  the disorder is caused by events occurring in the
  course and scope of the firefighter's or peace officer's
  employment; and
               (2)  the preponderance of the evidence indicates that
  the firefighter's or peace officer's work was a substantial
  contributing factor of the disorder.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made 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 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.