The session has ended. CLEAT has defeated over 40 bad bills. NONE of the bad bills passed. As you all know this was the worst session that anyone has experienced. I am pleased to report that your chubby CLEAT Navy Seals team is reporting no casualties for the home team.
1. Charley’s Legislative BLOG
2. Bad bill graveyard
3. CLEAT bills on their way to the Governor
Texas law enforcement has not seen a legislative session like we’ve just finished, not ever. As I head into my 18th year at CLEAT I believe it’s in order for me to say thank goodness for an organization that has the values and core principles to stand up and fight and avoid being owned by the politicians. Since 1976 CLEAT has avoided becoming conflicted or otherwise entangled with government money and the politicians who dole it out. Being independent allows an organization to fight. And that’s what we had to do every day and every hour since the session began in January.
Every day was a pitched battle. We’ve never seen such vile attacks on working officer’s rights, authority and retirement. The Public Affairs Team spent the majority of our time on defense. The bad bills just kept coming. From new freshman, from experienced legislators and from both political parties. Some legislators had never thought of the unintended consequences to some of their ideas. But the most devastating attacks came from those who knew exactly what the impact would be and were fully intending to pass bad legislation that hurt you and your family.
The good news is that we prevailed. Some bills we were able to kill outright, turn the tide and get our supporters to vote against them. Others we had to develop a strategy of using the ticking clock and working hard to keep bills stuck somewhere. We worked hard and we were prepared and we were fortunate to have well placed relationships that served you well.
A legislator declared that CLEAT had escaped the 82nd Legislative Session “without having a glove laid on you.” He likes the boxing analogies. I explained that just because you leave the ring on your own power doesn’t mean you weren’t hurt. Thank goodness we can report that none of the bad bills passed. (see page 11). But rest assured we’ve been hurt. Wrong ideas have been planted like seeds and they are likely to spring up again. Battles that should have never been fought had to be won on your behalf this session. There is an ugly wind, aimed at the hardworking officer and it is not likely to subside.
For example, CLEAT had to rush to the aide of the Austin Pension System to help pass a local retirement bill that had support from the local mayor, council, chief, and city manager. HB 1285 was dead on so many occasions that I began to refer to it as a Lazarus bill. Even one session ago it would have passed on the local calendar. The bill just placed into statute the retirement agreement the city and the union had reached during negotiations. There was NO good reason to oppose a local bill, but they did.
CLEAT had to work and strategize behind the scenes to help pass SB 1541 that kept funding for the auto theft task forces across the state. The money was already there—it came from the $1 paid by every auto insurance policy holder in the state. It was just incredible as to the number of meetings and strategy sessions we all participated in to do our part to help keep this funding.
Of course we didn’t get to advance our very positive agenda very far. We had to fight everyday to keep the rights and benefits that you already possess. We accomplished that for you and managed to get some good things done as well. As I look back at the five months that have passed I’m very pleased with our progress on worker’s comp as well as other issues.
Knowing the process the way we do it seems semi-miraculous as to some of the problems we were able to fix. I am personally grateful to Chris Jones and Melinda Griffith of our lobby team. Melinda’s mad organizational skills and Chris’ technical expertise always portray professionalism. And thanks to our families for support for absent spouses and missing dad’s for five months.
The CLEAT board of directors and local presidents always responded when we requested backup and we are grateful for all the officers who took a few moments and contacted their legislators. The legislators have had their time and next comes the campaign cycle and it will be our turn to help educate the voters about how the politicians treated their hometown heroes. It should be fun.
Charley Wilkison
CLEAT BAD BILL GRAVEYARD – RIP –
Below are just a few of the bad bills that CLEAT actively opposed and successfully killed. Many bad bills this session attacked retirements, collective bargaining and officers’ ability to participate politically. There were also bills that proposed civilian oversight, restricted use of tasers and even eliminated TCLEOSE as a state agency. The now ‘dead’ bills listed below are just a few examples of how CLEAT is always looking out for your interests and will never stop fighting for your rights. Although these bills are dead it is likely that we will continue to see these kinds of bills filed until legislators understand there are consequences to their actions.
Unfunded mandate bills
There were several of these bills filed in both the House and Senate by Democrats and Republicans. The consequence would have been local city and county bosses claiming that civil service, collective bargaining, changes to state retirements and more would have been illegal since they would have violated the unfunded mandate law. HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 56 by Representative Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton would have prevented the legislature from requiring a local government from providing a benefit unless funded by the legislature. This bill would have destroyed rights and benefits for officers and their families.
HOUSE BILL 1974 by Representative Kenneth Sheets, R- Dallas would have destroyed all the retirement plans in the state including TMRS and TCDRS and changed them to a 401k. This bill was a direct insult to every working officer in Texas.
HOUSE BILL 2506 by Representative Chisum, R-Pampa would have transitioned the Employee Retirement System (state troopers, games wardens, TABC agents, AG peace officers) and the Teachers Retirement System (university and school district peace officers) to a defined contribution plan. This bill was aimed only at working folks like cops and teachers.
HOUSE BILL 2731 by Representative Vicki Truitt, R-Arlington
Want Washington D.C. out of your life? This bill would have tied your local retirement funds to a federal index of performance. Until your local retirement fund performed to the standards of the bureaucrats in D.C. you couldn’t be paid the retirement that you’ve paid into your entire career. This bill would have created a rule that you’re retirement compensation amount could not exceed 125 percent of the amount of the your compensation for the same period occurring five years earlier. It also required that a pension be based on a corporate bond that is a higher standard than required now and requires that a pension system be funded at 80 percent or higher. All three of the above anti-retirement bills did not seek to reform legislator’s retirements.
HOUSE BILL 2986 by Representative Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound would have prohibited a law enforcement association from spending dues money on political purposes, including lobbying or campaigns. It also prohibited automatic payroll deduction for political funds. IT DID NOT PROHIBIT CORPORATIONS OR POLITICAL SUBDVISIONS FROM SPENDING FUNDS FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES. It would have effectively silenced the voice of law enforcement if passed.
HOUSE BILL 3617 by Representative Jerry Madden R-Richardson would have abolished TCLEOSE and combined the licensing functions into a new agency that would also license and regulate Jails, and Fire Protection. The new agency would not specialize in any of the three functions and would be hard pressed to fund and provide the services to law enforcement currently provided by TCLEOSE. Professionalism and standards would have suffered.
HOUSE BILL 2451 by Representative Zedler, R-Arlington would have prevented an officer from retiring from one agency and drawing their pension and then going to work for another agency covered by a different pension system or plan.
HOUSE BILL 2158 by Representative Coleman, D-Houston would have prohibited the use of a taser by school district peace officers against public school students. ISD officers would have been greatly hampered in their ability to protect other students and teachers during acts of violence.
HOUSE BILL 1470 by Representative Miles, D-Houston would have created a statewide civilian complaint review board to investigate allegations of peace officer misconduct. There are already a system of checks and balances where all officers ultimately answer to elected officials.
HOUSE BILL 1472 by Representative Miles, D-Houston would have required complaints alleging official oppression against officers to remain on file with employing agency even if unfounded or not sustained. It also would make complaints public information even if they were found to be false.
HOUSE BILL 2348 by Representative Larson, R-San Antonio would have removed prisoners in county jails awaiting transfer to state prison from being regulated by the Commission on Jail Standards. These prisoners wouldn't be counted toward minimum staffing requirements even though they are still in the jail.
Senate Bill 642 by Senator Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo would have allowed a city to adopt or drop a COLA without penalty or catch-up in funds.
To read the list of 40-plus bad bills that CLEAT actively opposed and sought to kill during this session please go to www.cleat.org, go to the drop down menu at PUBLIC AFFAIRS and go to Legislative Agenda. CLEAT members should be proud of our defensive tactics and successful efforts in protecting our members and all law enforcement officers from these bad bills.
CLEAT Bills Head to the Governor
In a session where CLEAT Public Affairs team members spent the majority of time defending the benefits and rights enjoyed by peace officers, CLEAT enjoyed some victories on issues benefiting Texas law enforcement officers and their families.
It should not be forgotten, that pensions and pension benefits and your right to freely participate in a union or be involved in the political process were under a full blown assault this session. Though we beat back these attacks at great expense of time and energy, it should not be forgotten that we were just fortunate that we did not suffer any major defeats. Any of the bad proposals that were filed could have broken through at any time and found their way to the Governor’s desk. With that said, our successes this session are listed below.
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Workers Compensation for First Responders
(HB 2605 by Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Galveston, and Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston)
Link to bill: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=HB02605
HB 2605 was the Texas Workers’ Compensation Sunset Bill. Each year, the legislature is required to review various agencies that are scheduled for “sunset”. If the legislature does not re-enact the enabling legislation for the agency, then the agency would cease to exist. The Worker’s Compensation Division of the Texas Department of Insurance oversees workers compensation in Texas. The Texas Labor Code contains the various statutes that regulate Texas workers compensation. HB 2605 amended many of these provisions in the Labor Code and reauthorized the authority of TDI to oversee workers compensation. CLEAT had legislation filed to address the problems peace officers have encountered when injured in the line of duty. This legislation stalled in the House Committee on State Affairs. The original bill was filed by Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, and Senator Robert Deuell, R-Greenville. However, when the sunset bill moved to the House floor, CLEAT saw an opportunity to try and address this important issue. We prepared a floor amendment and Rep. Deshotel offered it during the debate on the House floor. There were efforts to kill this amendment, which was opposed by the Texas Municipal League and their workers’ compensation insurance risk pool. A motion to table the amendment was defeated by our supporters by a vote of 78-65. The bill then moved to the Senate where Senator Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, and Senator Deuell worked to keep the amendment in the bill. CLEAT visited with every member of the Texas Senate and obtained a big victory when Senator Huffman, the Senate sponsor, decided not to oppose the first responder amendment. The bill passed the Senate with changes from the original House bill, so the House had to consider these changes. At first, we were led to believe that the House would concur in the Senate amendments, but without warning they did not and the bill went to a conference committee. CLEAT lobbyists had to scramble over the Memorial Day weekend to ensure that our language remained in the final version of the bill called the conference committee report. We were successful and the Legislature adopted the conference committee report on the last day they were able to do so.
HB 2605 creates Sections 504.054, 504.055, and 504.056 of the Labor Code. These sections provide that first responders, including peace officers, who are seriously injured in the line of duty are entitled to expedited consideration of workers compensation claims. The law will require an employer, the Workers Compensation Division, and workers compensation insurance companies to accelerate and give priority to an injured first responder’s claim for medical benefits, including all health care required to cure or relieve the effects from a compensable injury. The law will also provide that the Workers Compensation Division shall also accelerate contested case hearings or appeals submitted by a first responder regarding a denial of a claim for medical benefits. Because of these new provisions, we believe that much of the red tape associated with these claims will be avoided. It will force the parties to review these cases more closely and make sure officers are getting the care they need, when they need it.
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Officer Involved Traffic Accidents
(HB 343 by Rep. Allen Fletcher, R-Tomball, and Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston.)
Link to bill: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=HB343
Current law provides that the drivers license record of a peace officer may not include a traffic accident involving the officer “during an emergency”. This language was problematic because “emergency” is not defined in the law. Accidents involving minor damage and no injuries are generally not reported. However, many law enforcement agencies require any accident involving an agency be investigated and that a report be filed. These minor accidents were then turning up on officers drivers license records when the same accident for any citizen would not have. This has caused many officers insurance rates to increase when they should not have. CLEAT sought legislation to fix this. Rep. Allen Fletcher, a retired Houston police officer filed HB 343. The bill passed and if signed will provide a new exemption for officers involved in a traffic accident. The law will provide that an on-duty accident may not be included on an officer’s drivers record if the accident resulted in damages to property less than $1,000, even if the officer was at fault. Also, the law would provide that an on-duty accident in which the officer is not at fault may not be included on the officers’ drivers record regardless of injury or damages.
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Austin EMS Civil Service
(HB 554 by Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin)
Link to bill: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=HB554
Unique to Austin and Travis County, emergency medical service personnel are not part of the Austin Fire Department. These first responders are employed by the City of Austin, but provide EMS and ambulance service to a large part of Travis County. Since these employees are not part of the fire department, they are not covered by civil service and they are not members of the fire fighter union. They came to CLEAT and sought representation and were given special permission to join. CLEAT has worked with these employees to provide them with the protections and benefits enjoyed by other Austin civil service employees. CLEAT helped them pass legislation granting them meet and confer and this session a bill was filed to include them under state civil service. HB 554 passed and would allow an election to be held for the purpose of granting these employees the same civil service protection as police officers and fire fighters.
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Probate Fee Exemption for Surivors Killed in the Line of Duty
(SB 543 by Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, and Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Galveston)
Link to bill: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=SB00543
Last year, CLEAT met with Galveston County Probate Judge Kimberly Sullivan how had a great idea. She suggested that the family of a peace officer killed in the line of duty should not have to pay the probate fees associated with probating the will and estate of the officer. Thus, SB 543 was born. CLEAT worked with Sen. Hegar and Rep. Taylor to see this bill to the Governor’s desk. Though other organizations have claimed this bill as their own, CLEAT was the only law enforcement organization to sign up and testify for SB 543 when it was considered by the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence. CLEAT also met with Judge Sullivan during the legislative session and went with her to various legislative offices to lobby for passage of this bill.
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Escape when Lawfully Detained
(SB 844 by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-, and Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi)
Link to bill: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=SB844
CLEAT discovered appellate court opinion a few years ago that raised the question whether or not a person could be charged with the offense of escape if they escaped when lawfully detained. The court case referred to the “evading arrest or detention” statute and pointed out that the lawfully detained element was not included in the “escape”. For example, if a person is lawfully detained and placed in the back of a police vehicle while the officer conducts an investigation and the officer returns to find that the person has broken out and fled, could the person be charged with escape since the person was not technically “under arrest” for a specific offense at the time. SB 844 addressed this concern by including the “lawfully detained” element into the escape statute. The bill also clarified that a person could be charged with escape if the escape from a “law enforcement facility” that may or may not be a “secure correctional facility” which is currently in the law. This bill ran into numerous road blocks from defense lawyers and civil liberty organizations throughout the session, but we were able to craft a bill that addressed some concerns and this bill passed during the last week of the session.
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Peace Officers Working Extra Jobs for Private Security Companies
(SB 1600 by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford)
After the start of the session, CLEAT learned of a problem in Arlington involving officers working extra employment at Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers games. These officers were being required to register with the Private Security Board because they were technically employed by a private security company. These employees were being paid by a subsidiary company of the Cowboys or Rangers that employed all of the event staff, including private security officers that work these events. These companies had to be licensed as security companies since they employ security staff. Current law did not include an exemption for officers employed by security companies. This same problem existed in Houston and Senator Whitmire filed SB 1600 to address it. CLEAT worked with Senator Whitmire and testified about the problem in Arlington during the committee hearing. The bill passed, and if signed will make it clear that these officers are exempt from the Private Security Act.
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Pension Information Tracking for School District and University Peace Officers
(SB 1671 by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, and Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller)
Link to bill: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=SB1671
CLEAT has worked for the last several session to try improve pension benefits for officers working for universities and school districts who are members of the Teachers Retirement System (TRS). They are not included in the 20-year law enforcement retirement fund currently in the Employee Retirement System of Texas. One of the road blocks associated with trying to seek change was the fact that the TRS does not keep records identifying which members of the system are peace officers. Because of this, TRS is unable to accurately determine the fiscal impact of changing these officers retirement or moving them into the ERS fund. Senator Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, filed SB 464 which would have required that TRS track this information. At the request of Senator Lucio, this requirement was added into an omnibus TRS bill, SB 1671. SB 1671 passed and was sent to the Governor.
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Bill Already Signed
Survivor Health Care Clarification and Death Benefit Filings
(SB 423 by Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, and Rep. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio)
Link to bill: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=SB423
Several bills have been passed in the past to provide health insurance for the families of officers killed in the line of duty. SB 872 was passed last session that clarified the families were entitled to insurance at the same premium rate paid by active employees. It provided that families could re-apply for insurance coverage, however some employers refused to allow families to re-apply if they were not on the employer’s insurance plan at the time of death. Some spouses were on their own employer’s insurance instead of the officers. SB 423 was filed to further clarify that the families could apply for coverage if they were eligible for coverage at the time of death, even if they were not on the plan at the time. The bill also provided another opportunity for survivors to re-apply for coverage, until September 1, 2012. As this bill moved the process, we discovered another problems. We were advised of a case out of Harris County where the sheriff’s department failed to file for the state death benefit for the survivors of a deputy killed in the line of duty and that the state was now denying payment. We discovered that the law did not make it clear that the employing agency was responsible for filing the death benefit. Trying to file for death benefits is the last thing a surviving spouse or family has on their mind when these tragedies occur. CLEAT prepared an amendment to SB 423 to make it clear that the department must file the claim. The amendment also allows a survivor who did not receive death benefits because the claim was not timely filed to re-apply for death benefits until September 30, 2011. This bill passed and was signed by the Governor on May 12, 2011. It took effect immediately.
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Charley Wilkison
Director of Public Affairs
CLEAT/POMF
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