LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
5-17-2009
As usual at this time during the session, the pace has picked up tremendously. Committee hearings are being held on the fly with little notice, and often in some back room while the House is in session. Yesterday, I looked at my old “blue book� from 1989, and then there were only 10 House Committees. This Session, there are 34 House Committees, with many of these having standing sub-committees. Several of our bills are still sailing through the process while others are almost without question, D.O.A.
As you know, fire fighters have enjoyed an exemption for tuition relating to fire science courses since 1971. Two bills this Session, one for police officers and the other for volunteers would have extended this benefit to those groups. Last week and the week before, the bills were debated by the full House of Representatives. During each debate an amendment was offered to impair professional fire fighters from utilizing the exemption. In each case we were able to stop the amendment(s) with Representative Armando “Mando� Martinez - (D) Weslaco (our fire fighter Representative who is a member of the Weslaco Local) leading the fight. We were also able to help prevent HB 1511 from moving out of the House and to the Senate. HB 1511 would have prohibited a city from enacting fire sprinkler ordinances applying to residences having less than 7500 square feet.
The bes t news is that SB 1011 by Senator Craig Estes - (R) Wichita Falls , has passed the House and is headed back to the Senate for concurrence. This is the Commission on Fire Protection sunset legislation, and we were able to keep most of the provisions intact with floor amendments. The most important aspect being the issue of keeping the paid advisory committee and making sure the committee has a role in the creation of rules concerning fire fighter protective clothing, SCBA and 2 in 2 out. This important bill will go to Governor Perry next week if the Senate concurs with these amendments. Our thanks for her hard work on this legislation go to Representative Linda Harper Brown - (R) Irving. She and her staff worked even on Mother’s day to make sure our needs were taken care of.
The MRSA Presumption bill (HB 4560 by Elliott Naishtat - (D) ) cleared the House late last week. Senator Bob Deuell - (R) Greenville . has agreed to sponsor the bill in the Senate along with Senator Mario Gallegos - (D) Houston . We had to trim the bill down and make it a notification bill where a hospital must report a fire fighter’s or EMT’s exposure to MRSA to that person through the local health department. This effectively negates the need for a presumption since the notification establishes a time, date and place of exposure. This is the necessary information for a successful claim under the worker’s compensation law.
With two weeks left in the 81 st Session, there will be no slowing down as legislators see opportunities to amend bills and resurrect dead legislation. This promises to be a busy and an exciting time.
If there are questions regarding this update or other legislation, please contact me.
Mike Higgins
512-750-6131
