(a) In this section, "emergency services personnel" includes firefighters, police officers and other peace officers, emergency medical technicians, emergency management personnel, and other individuals who are required, in the course and scope of their employment, to provide services for the benefit of the general public during emergency situations.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or the General Appropriations Act, a state employee who is emergency services personnel and who is deployed to a temporary duty station to conduct emergency or disaster response activities is entitled to reimbursement for the actual expense of lodging when there is no room available at the state rate within reasonable proximity to the employee's temporary duty station.