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Ex. DUT-TX-014 Standing duty Primary source read

Senate Bill 6, Pandemic Liability Protection Act (Act of June 14, 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., ch. 528)

An Act relating to liability for certain claims arising during a pandemic or disaster related to a pandemic

Texas Legislature (87th Leg., R.S.), Senate Bill 6, signed by Governor Abbott · Texas (State)

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The record

Jurisdiction
Texas
Level
State
Authority
Tex. Const. art. III, § 39 (immediate effect on two-thirds vote); enacting Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 148 and § 74.155
Issued
2021-06-14 June 14, 2021
Effective
2021-06-14, applicable to every action commenced on or after 2020-03-13 (read as 2021-06-14)
End
standing (applies during a 'pandemic emergency,' defined by the Governor's disaster declaration) (read as 2021-09-30)
In force
Standing since June 14, 2021 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
Quarters
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
Limitation types
Workplace rulesStanding dutyOperating condition
Addressees
  • employers; owners or persons in control of premises; specified businesses; physicians, health care providers and first responders (§ 74.155); educational institutions (§ 148.004)
Character
liability shield condition
Collection
Standing duties: Texas DUT-TX

Operative words

SECTION 5. (a) Section 74.155 and Chapter 148, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as added by this Act, apply only to an action commenced on or after March 13, 2020, for which a judgment has not become final before the effective date of this Act.

Penalty

Loss of the shield: liability for injury or death from exposure where the claimant proves knowing failure to implement or comply with applicable governmental standards, guidance or protocols and causation

What it required

The Legislature applied the liability shield and its compliance condition (Ex. DUT-TX-015) retroactively to every exposure claim arising from March 13, 2020 forward, so that for the entire claim period a Texas business's protection from suit turned on whether it implemented and complied with the 'government-promulgated standards, guidance, or protocols' applicable to it; the bill's Section 4 findings recite the Legislature's purpose of protecting 'businesses, nonprofit entities, and others whose daily lives have been upended by the emergency.'

Retrieval note

The enrolled bill is the Legislature's own text (Texas Legislature Online). Section 6 provides for immediate effect on a two-thirds vote; the codified chapter (Ex. DUT-TX-015) records 'eff. June 14, 2021.' The Senate vote lines (29-1; concurrence 30-1) appear on the certificate page.

A record of The COVID Project. The instrument's text is the source's; the summary fields are The COVID Project's reading of it. Not legal advice.