The attacks on the fire service are mostly coming from the far-right wing of the Republican Party or those business groups (such as the NFIB) that wish to align with them to diminish our involvement in politics. This session was extremely challenging in that few bills passed, and members were not at all forthcoming on their support or opposition to legislation. As we move forward, we need to engage those that were not forthcoming and let them know that we are their constituents and expect them to be accountable to us and not think tanks or the lieutenant governor. 

Vetoes - The governor vetoed multiple pieces of the budget totaling over $100 million and none of them would have had much of an effect on firefighters. In addition, he vetoed with little warning, around 50 bills. These bills were most likely vetoed for political reasons as many moderate Republicans were targeted. He also went after special districts and water districts but without much consistency or direction. It seems as if the governor is telling moderates and local entities that they are his target and it does not matter whether what they are doing is right or not, he wants them to know that they are at his mercy. In the past, it was nearly always courtesy to inform a member that the governor might take issue with legislation letting the two parties work out their issues. That practice seems to be a thing of the past as the governor gave little to no warning on any of the vetoed bills.

Special Session - We will be under assault this special session on multiple issues. The main reason we are going into special session is because the lieutenant governor was upset that his bathroom bill did not pass so he felt it necessary to not pass a bill that would ensure that the agency that licenses physicians continues in existence. He felt that this gave him the leverage to pass his most important item, the bathroom bill. The governor is running scared and has decided that he had to throw all of the red meat issues on the call. We once again are going to have to face a dues deduction bill but fortunately, the major issue involving the state medical board must be passed before the other ones will be taken up. This cuts some time off of the 30-day time frame in which business must be completed during a special session. We will need everyone’s helping to defeat it this time. In addition, the governor is pushing a bill that will limit local governments’ ability to raise revenue. This could greatly affect pay, staffing and equipment issues when it relates to firefighters. The cities are going to have to start working to stop this.

Pensions - This session two major pension bills were passed to reform the Dallas and Houston pension systems. The Dallas bill, HB 3158, was a joint effort between fire and police to make the changes needed for the survival of the fund. The city did nothing but obstruct the process until they realized a bill would probably pass without any more of their input. While concessions were made to the city, they were of not great substance and giving them a majority of the board positions was gutted by including a two-thirds vote requirement of the entire board for substantive items. This is how we should always pass big legislation. The local that is affected must get intimately involved like the Dallas firefighters did.

SB 2190 – This Houston-centered bill was much less of a victory for pension systems. There is a trigger that can be pulled if the system were below a certain funding level that would move the system to a cash balance plan. I am unsure how that would be possible but that is what is in the bill that passed. This will be how the strategy the enemy uses in the future. There is no way to predict the economy in seven years and a city could stop funding a pension, thus driving it below the trigger level. We will have to prevent this bill from becoming a bad precedent.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=SB2190

HB 3056 – Switches new hires in University Park from the TLFFRA fund to TMRS. Must be voted on by members and completed before October 2018 or it expires.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB3056

HB 1983 – This was our bill that made PTSD compensable under workers compensation. This will go a long way in helping the firefighters that need treatment the most. It will also help end the constant denials that occur around this issue. Texas is now one of a small handful of states that recognize PTSD as a compensable workplace injury for firefighters.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB1983

In addition, we were part of a team that helped write HB 1794 by Rep. Bell that will study PTSD in first responders and come up with recommendations for future policies. We will need two people to serve on the study group and I will be looking for volunteers. We were also able to put a section in the bill that addresses the excessive denials from the presumptive statute. While not sounding particularly germane, it goes hand in hand with the current situation where benefits are continually denied.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB1794

Workers Compensation - Multiple workers compensation bills passed this session and below are a few more relevant examples. Also, refer to the attached legislative tracking report for others which we are studying to see what their effects will be. Workers compensation reform is desperately needed and should be a focus of ours over the next few sessions. It will be a massive project.

HB 919 – Expands workers compensation coverage to all members of members of Incident Management Teams or Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System teams.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB919

HB 2082 – Designates a liaison to assist in first responder workers compensation claims.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB2082

HB 2119 – Preserves workers compensation payments to a spouse of a first responder killed in the line of duty even if they remarry.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB2119

Civil Service / Collective Bargaining – While we were unable to move the bar forward much on collective bargaining or civil service, it did not go in reverse, and I believe we are poised to make some advances. A major advance would be binding arbitration for Chapter 174 locals. This would greatly reduce the cost of contract negotiations that go into impasse, would cost less for taxpayers and be one of the first major victories we have had in collective bargaining in a good while.