Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 230
       
       
        
       By Senator Hutson
       
       
       
       
       
       7-00106-21                                             2021230__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Special Risk Class of the
    3         Florida Retirement System; amending s. 121.0515, F.S.;
    4         adding employees of a water, sewer, or other public
    5         works department of a participating employer who work
    6         in certain hazardous conditions to the class as of a
    7         specified date; providing a declaration of important
    8         state interest; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 121.0515, Florida
   13  Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (i) is added to subsection
   14  (2) of that section, to read:
   15         121.0515 Special Risk Class.—
   16         (2) MEMBERSHIP.—
   17         (i)Effective July 1, 2021, “special risk member” includes
   18  any member who is employed in a water, sewer, or other public
   19  works department and meets the special criteria set forth in
   20  paragraph (3)(k).
   21         (3) CRITERIA.—A member, to be designated as a special risk
   22  member, must meet the following criteria:
   23         (a) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed
   24  as a law enforcement officer and be certified, or required to be
   25  certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395, except that; however,
   26  sheriffs and elected police chiefs are not required to be
   27  certified excluded from meeting the certification requirements
   28  of this paragraph. In addition, the member’s duties and
   29  responsibilities must include the pursuit, apprehension, and
   30  arrest of law violators or suspected law violators; or as of
   31  July 1, 1982, the member must be an active member of a bomb
   32  disposal unit whose primary responsibility is the location,
   33  handling, and disposal of explosive devices; or the member must
   34  be the supervisor or command officer of a member or members who
   35  have such responsibilities. Administrative support personnel,
   36  including, but not limited to, those whose primary duties and
   37  responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and
   38  personnel, are not included;
   39         (b) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed
   40  as a firefighter and be certified, or required to be certified,
   41  in compliance with s. 633.408 and be employed solely within the
   42  fire department of a local government employer or an agency of
   43  state government with firefighting responsibilities. In
   44  addition, the member’s duties and responsibilities must include
   45  on-the-scene fighting of fires; as of October 1, 2001, fire
   46  prevention or firefighter training; as of October 1, 2001,
   47  direct supervision of firefighting units, fire prevention, or
   48  firefighter training; or as of July 1, 2001, aerial firefighting
   49  surveillance performed by fixed-wing aircraft pilots employed by
   50  the Florida Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and
   51  Consumer Services; or the member must be the supervisor or
   52  command officer of a member or members who have such
   53  responsibilities. Administrative support personnel, including,
   54  but not limited to, those whose primary duties and
   55  responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and
   56  personnel, are not included. All periods of creditable service
   57  in fire prevention or firefighter training, or as the supervisor
   58  or command officer of a member or members who have such
   59  responsibilities, and for which the employer paid the special
   60  risk contribution rate, are included;
   61         (c) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed
   62  as a correctional officer and be certified, or required to be
   63  certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395. In addition, the
   64  member’s primary duties and responsibilities must include be the
   65  custody, and physical restraint if when necessary, of prisoners
   66  or inmates within a prison, jail, or other criminal detention
   67  facility, or while on work detail outside the facility, or while
   68  being transported; or as of July 1, 1984, the member must be the
   69  supervisor or command officer of a member or members who have
   70  such responsibilities. Administrative support personnel,
   71  including, but not limited to, those whose primary duties and
   72  responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and
   73  personnel, are not included; however, wardens and assistant
   74  wardens, as defined by rule, are included;
   75         (d) Effective October 1, 1999, the member must be employed
   76  by a licensed Advance Life Support (ALS) or Basic Life Support
   77  (BLS) employer as an emergency medical technician or a paramedic
   78  and be certified in compliance with s. 401.27. In addition, the
   79  member’s primary duties and responsibilities must include on
   80  the-scene emergency medical care or as of October 1, 2001,
   81  direct supervision of emergency medical technicians or
   82  paramedics, or the member must be the supervisor or command
   83  officer of one or more members who have such responsibility.
   84  Administrative support personnel, including, but not limited to,
   85  those whose primary responsibilities are in accounting,
   86  purchasing, legal, and personnel, are not included;
   87         (e) Effective January 1, 2001, the member must be employed
   88  as a community-based correctional probation officer and be
   89  certified, or required to be certified, in compliance with s.
   90  943.1395. In addition, the member’s primary duties and
   91  responsibilities must be the supervised custody, surveillance,
   92  control, investigation, and counseling of assigned inmates,
   93  probationers, parolees, or community controllees within the
   94  community; or the member must be the supervisor of a member or
   95  members who have such responsibilities. Administrative support
   96  personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose primary
   97  duties and responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal
   98  services, and personnel management, are not included, except
   99  that; however, probation and parole circuit and deputy circuit
  100  administrators are included;
  101         (f) Effective January 1, 2001, the member must be employed
  102  in one of the following classes and must spend at least 75
  103  percent of his or her time performing duties that which involve
  104  contact with patients or inmates in a correctional or forensic
  105  facility or institution:
  106         1. Dietitian (class codes 5203 and 5204);
  107         2. Public health nutrition consultant (class code 5224);
  108         3. Psychological specialist (class codes 5230 and 5231);
  109         4. Psychologist (class code 5234);
  110         5. Senior psychologist (class codes 5237 and 5238);
  111         6. Regional mental health consultant (class code 5240);
  112         7. Psychological Services Director—DCF (class code 5242);
  113         8. Pharmacist (class codes 5245 and 5246);
  114         9. Senior pharmacist (class codes 5248 and 5249);
  115         10. Dentist (class code 5266);
  116         11. Senior dentist (class code 5269);
  117         12. Registered nurse (class codes 5290 and 5291);
  118         13. Senior registered nurse (class codes 5292 and 5293);
  119         14. Registered nurse specialist (class codes 5294 and
  120  5295);
  121         15. Clinical associate (class codes 5298 and 5299);
  122         16. Advanced practice registered nurse (class codes 5297
  123  and 5300);
  124         17. Advanced practice registered nurse specialist (class
  125  codes 5304 and 5305);
  126         18. Registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5306 and
  127  5307);
  128         19. Senior registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5308
  129  and 5309);
  130         20. Registered nursing consultant (class codes 5312 and
  131  5313);
  132         21. Quality management program supervisor (class code
  133  5314);
  134         22. Executive nursing director (class codes 5320 and 5321);
  135         23. Speech and hearing therapist (class code 5406); or
  136         24. Pharmacy manager (class code 5251);
  137         (g) Effective October 1, 2005, through June 30, 2008, the
  138  member must be employed by a law enforcement agency or medical
  139  examiner’s office in a forensic discipline recognized by the
  140  International Association for Identification and must qualify
  141  for active membership in the International Association for
  142  Identification. The member’s primary duties and responsibilities
  143  must include the collection, examination, preservation,
  144  documentation, preparation, or analysis of physical evidence or
  145  testimony, or both, or the member must be the direct supervisor,
  146  quality management supervisor, or command officer of one or more
  147  individuals with such responsibility. Administrative support
  148  personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose primary
  149  responsibilities are clerical or in accounting, purchasing,
  150  legal, and personnel, are not included;
  151         (h) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed by
  152  the Department of Law Enforcement in the crime laboratory or by
  153  the Division of State Fire Marshal in the forensic laboratory in
  154  one of the following classes:
  155         1. Forensic technologist (class code 8459);
  156         2. Crime laboratory technician (class code 8461);
  157         3. Crime laboratory analyst (class code 8463);
  158         4. Senior crime laboratory analyst (class code 8464);
  159         5. Crime laboratory analyst supervisor (class code 8466);
  160         6. Forensic chief (class code 9602); or
  161         7. Forensic services quality manager (class code 9603);
  162         (i) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed by
  163  a local government law enforcement agency or medical examiner’s
  164  office and must spend at least 65 percent of his or her time
  165  performing duties that involve the collection, examination,
  166  preservation, documentation, preparation, or analysis of human
  167  tissues or fluids or physical evidence having potential
  168  biological, chemical, or radiological hazard or contamination,
  169  or use chemicals, processes, or materials that may have
  170  carcinogenic or health-damaging properties in the analysis of
  171  such evidence, or the member must be the direct supervisor of
  172  one or more individuals having such responsibility. If a special
  173  risk member changes to another position within the same agency,
  174  he or she must submit a complete application as provided in
  175  paragraph (4)(a); or
  176         (j) The member must have already qualified for and be
  177  actively participating in special risk membership under
  178  paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), must have
  179  suffered a qualifying injury as defined in this paragraph, must
  180  not be receiving disability retirement benefits as provided in
  181  s. 121.091(4), and must satisfy the requirements of this
  182  paragraph.
  183         1. The ability to qualify for the class of membership
  184  defined in paragraph (2)(h) occurs when two licensed medical
  185  physicians, one of whom is a primary treating physician of the
  186  member, certify the existence of the physical injury and medical
  187  condition that constitute a qualifying injury as defined in this
  188  paragraph and that the member has reached maximum medical
  189  improvement after August 1, 2008. The certifications from the
  190  licensed medical physicians must include, at a minimum, that the
  191  injury to the special risk member has resulted in a physical
  192  loss, or loss of use, of at least two of the following: left
  193  arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg; and that:
  194         a. The That this physical loss or loss of use is total and
  195  permanent, unless except if the loss of use is due to a physical
  196  injury to the member’s brain, in which event the loss of use is
  197  permanent with at least 75 percent loss of motor function with
  198  respect to each arm or leg affected.
  199         b. The That this physical loss or loss of use renders the
  200  member physically unable to perform the essential job functions
  201  of his or her special risk position.
  202         c. That, Notwithstanding the this physical loss or loss of
  203  use, the individual can perform the essential job functions
  204  required by the member’s new position, as provided in
  205  subparagraph 3.
  206         d. That Use of artificial limbs is not possible or does not
  207  alter the member’s ability to perform the essential job
  208  functions of the member’s position.
  209         e. That The physical loss or loss of use is a direct result
  210  of a physical injury and not a result of any mental,
  211  psychological, or emotional injury.
  212         2. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “qualifying
  213  injury” means an injury sustained in the line of duty, as
  214  certified by the member’s employing agency, by a special risk
  215  member that does not result in total and permanent disability as
  216  defined in s. 121.091(4)(b). An injury is a qualifying injury if
  217  the injury is a physical injury to the member’s physical body
  218  resulting in a physical loss, or loss of use, of at least two of
  219  the following: left arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg.
  220  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an injury
  221  that would otherwise qualify as a qualifying injury is not
  222  considered a qualifying injury if and when the member ceases
  223  employment with the employer for whom he or she was providing
  224  special risk services on the date the injury occurred.
  225         3. The new position, as described in sub-subparagraph 1.c.,
  226  that is required for qualification as a special risk member
  227  under this paragraph is not required to be a position with
  228  essential job functions that entitle an individual to special
  229  risk membership. Whether a new position as described in sub
  230  subparagraph 1.c. exists and is available to the special risk
  231  member is a decision to be made solely by the employer in
  232  accordance with its hiring practices and applicable law.
  233         4. This paragraph does not grant or create additional
  234  rights for any individual to continued employment or to be hired
  235  or rehired by his or her employer that are not already provided
  236  by state law within the Florida Statutes, the State
  237  Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, if
  238  applicable, or any other applicable state or federal law; or
  239         (k)Effective July 1, 2021, the member must be employed in
  240  a water, sewer, or other public works department of a
  241  participating employer and must perform duties that include
  242  working in hazardous conditions, such as responding to a
  243  chemical release or spill; working in a confined space with
  244  oxygen deficiencies or poisonous gases; cutting cement pipes or
  245  materials containing asbestos; pouring lead joints; working with
  246  toxic or hazardous chemicals or toxic, hazardous, or industrial
  247  wastewater which requires the use of a respirator or a self
  248  contained breathing apparatus; or working in a confined space
  249  where there is a clear and present safety or health hazard that
  250  poses an imminent risk to the life and safety of the member.
  251         Section 2. The Legislature finds that a proper and
  252  legitimate state purpose is served when employees and retirees
  253  of the state and its political subdivisions, and the dependents,
  254  survivors, and beneficiaries of such employees and retirees, are
  255  extended the basic protections afforded by governmental
  256  retirement systems. These persons must be provided benefits that
  257  are fair and adequate and that are managed, administered, and
  258  funded in an actuarially sound manner, as required by s. 14,
  259  Article X of the State Constitution and part VII of chapter 112,
  260  Florida Statutes. Therefore, the Legislature determines and
  261  declares that this act fulfills an important state interest.
  262         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.