HBA-BSM H.B. 3226 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3226
By: Keffer
State Affairs
3/23/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Peace officers and state custodial officers perform duties that can
endanger their personal safety.  Injuries sustained in the line of duty may
lead to a long recovery period before an officer is ready to perform the
officer's duties again.  Under current law, injured officers are only able
to use sick leave or compensatory time if they are injured in the line of
duty, which may not cover the entire rehabilitation and recovery period.
House Bill 3226 allows these officers to use up to one year of injury leave
for injuries sustained in the performance of duties without receiving a
reduction in pay. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3226 amends the Government Code to entitle a person appointed or
employed as a peace officer by a state agency, a custodial officer of the
Board of Pardons and Paroles or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,
or an investigatory employee of the Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services to injury leave without a deduction in salary and
without being required to use compensatory time off or any other type of
leave for an injury that occurs during the course of the person's
performance of duty and results directly from a risk or hazard to which the
person is exposed because of the nature of the person's duties.  H.B. 3226
does not include transportation to and from work as performance of a duty.

H.B. 3226 provides that for a person to be eligible for injury leave, a
person must submit evidence to their employer of a medical examination and
a recommendation for a specified period of leave from a licensed state
physician.  The bill provides that the maximum amount of leave available is
one year.  The bill also authorizes a person to be simultaneously on injury
leave and receive workers' compensation benefits, but the person is not
eligible for disability retirement benefits during this leave period. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.