85R10649 KKR-D     By: Oliveira H.B. No. 2054       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to a cost-of-living increase applicable to death benefits   paid under the workers' compensation system.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 408.181, Labor Code, is amended by   amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as   follows:          (b)  Subject to Section 408.061, the amount of a death   benefit is equal to 75 percent of the employee's average weekly   wage. Notwithstanding Section 408.061, the amount of a death   benefit is adjusted in accordance with Subsection (b-1) each   calendar year as necessary to reflect inflation.          (b-1)  Not later than November 1 of each year, the   commissioner shall set the rate of the adjustment described by   Subsection (b) for the next calendar year to equal the percentage   increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners   and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) most recently published by the Bureau   of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor and   used by the United States Social Security Administration to provide   a cost-of-living adjustment for social security benefit payments   payable beginning in January of the next year.  Not later than   January 1 of each year, an insurance carrier shall recompute the   amount of a death benefit to be paid under this section by applying   the adjustment computed by the commissioner under this subsection   to the amount otherwise required to be paid under Subsection (b).          SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only   to a claim for workers' compensation benefits based on a   compensable injury that occurs on or after the effective date of   this Act. A claim based on a compensable injury that occurs before   the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on   the date the compensable injury occurred, and the former law is   continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.