Senate Bill sb0176e1
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to educational benefits for
3 children of slain law enforcement officers and
4 firefighters; amending ss. 112.19, 112.191,
5 F.S.; providing for graduate or
6 postbaccalaureate educational expenses to be
7 waived for children of officers or firefighters
8 killed in the line of duty; providing for the
9 waiver to apply to a state resident who attends
10 a state institution as a full-time or part-time
11 student until a specified age; providing an
12 effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Section 112.19, Florida Statutes, is
17 amended to read:
18 112.19 Law enforcement, correctional, and correctional
19 probation officers; death benefits.--
20 (1) Whenever used in this section, the term:
21 (a) "Employer" means a state board, commission,
22 department, division, bureau, or agency, or a county,
23 municipality, or other political subdivision of the state,
24 which employs, appoints, or otherwise engages the services of
25 law enforcement, correctional, or correctional probation
26 officers.
27 (b) "Law enforcement, correctional, or correctional
28 probation officer" means any officer as defined in s.
29 943.10(14) or employee of the state or any political
30 subdivision of the state, including any law enforcement
31 officer, correctional officer, correctional probation officer,
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1 state attorney investigator, or public defender investigator,
2 whose duties require such officer or employee to investigate,
3 pursue, apprehend, arrest, transport, or maintain custody of
4 persons who are charged with, suspected of committing, or
5 convicted of a crime; and the term includes any member of a
6 bomb disposal unit whose primary responsibility is the
7 location, handling, and disposal of explosive devices. The
8 term also includes any full-time officer or employee of the
9 state or any political subdivision of the state, certified
10 pursuant to chapter 943, whose duties require such officer to
11 serve process or to attend terms of circuit or county court as
12 bailiff.
13 (c) "Insurance" means insurance procured from a stock
14 company or mutual company or association or exchange
15 authorized to do business as an insurer in this state.
16 (d) "Fresh pursuit" means the pursuit of a person who
17 has committed or is reasonably suspected of having committed a
18 felony, misdemeanor, traffic infraction, or violation of a
19 county or municipal ordinance. The term does not imply
20 instant pursuit, but pursuit without unreasonable delay.
21 (2)(a) The sum of $25,000 shall be paid as provided in
22 this section when a law enforcement, correctional, or
23 correctional probation officer, while engaged in the
24 performance of the officer's law enforcement duties, is
25 accidentally killed or receives accidental bodily injury which
26 results in the loss of the officer's life, provided that such
27 killing is not the result of suicide and that such bodily
28 injury is not intentionally self-inflicted.
29 (b) The sum of $25,000 shall be paid as provided in
30 this section if a law enforcement, correctional, or
31 correctional probation officer is accidentally killed as
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1 specified in paragraph (a) and the accidental death occurs as
2 a result of the officer's response to fresh pursuit or to the
3 officer's response to what is reasonably believed to be an
4 emergency. This sum is in addition to any sum provided for in
5 paragraph (a).
6 (c) If a law enforcement, correctional, or
7 correctional probation officer, while engaged in the
8 performance of the officer's law enforcement duties, is
9 unlawfully and intentionally killed or dies as a result of
10 such unlawful and intentional act, the sum of $75,000 shall be
11 paid as provided in this section.
12 (d) Such payments, pursuant to the provisions of
13 paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), whether secured by insurance or
14 not, shall be made to the beneficiary designated by such law
15 enforcement, correctional, or correctional probation officer
16 in writing, signed by the officer and delivered to the
17 employer during the officer's lifetime. If no such
18 designation is made, then it shall be paid to the officer's
19 surviving child or children and spouse in equal portions, and
20 if there is no surviving child or spouse, then to the
21 officer's parent or parents. If a beneficiary is not
22 designated and there is no surviving child, spouse, or parent,
23 then it shall be paid to the officer's estate.
24 (e) Such payments, pursuant to the provisions of
25 paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), are in addition to any workers'
26 compensation or pension benefits and are exempt from the
27 claims and demands of creditors of such law enforcement,
28 correctional, or correctional probation officer.
29 (f) If a full-time law enforcement, correctional, or
30 correctional probation officer who is employed by a state
31 agency is killed in the line of duty as a result of an act of
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1 violence inflicted by another person while the officer is
2 engaged in the performance of law enforcement duties or as a
3 result of an assault against the officer under riot
4 conditions, the sum of $1,000 shall be paid, as provided for
5 in paragraph (d), toward the funeral and burial expenses of
6 such officer. Such benefits are in addition to any other
7 benefits which employee beneficiaries and dependents are
8 entitled to under the provisions of the Workers' Compensation
9 Law or any other state or federal statutes.
10 (g) Any political subdivision of the state that
11 employs a full-time law enforcement officer as defined in s.
12 943.10(1) or a full-time correctional officer as defined in s.
13 943.10(2) who is killed in the line of duty on or after July
14 1, 1993, as a result of an act of violence inflicted by
15 another person while the officer is engaged in the performance
16 of law enforcement duties or as a result of an assault against
17 the officer under riot conditions shall pay the entire premium
18 of the political subdivision's health insurance plan for the
19 employee's surviving spouse until remarried, and for each
20 dependent child of the employee until the child reaches the
21 age of majority or until the end of the calendar year in which
22 the child reaches the age of 25 if:
23 1. At the time of the employee's death, the child is
24 dependent upon the employee for support; and
25 2. The surviving child continues to be dependent for
26 support, or the surviving child is a full-time or part-time
27 student and is dependent for support.
28 (h)1. Any employer who employs a full-time law
29 enforcement, correctional, or correctional probation officer
30 who, on or after January 1, 1995, suffers a catastrophic
31 injury, as defined in s. 440.02(37), in the line of duty shall
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1 pay the entire premium of the employer's health insurance plan
2 for the injured employee, the injured employee's spouse, and
3 for each dependent child of the injured employee until the
4 child reaches the age of majority or until the end of the
5 calendar year in which the child reaches the age of 25 if the
6 child continues to be dependent for support, or the child is a
7 full-time or part-time student and is dependent for support.
8 The term "health insurance plan" does not include supplemental
9 benefits that are not part of the basic group health insurance
10 plan. If the injured employee subsequently dies, the employer
11 shall continue to pay the entire health insurance premium for
12 the surviving spouse until remarried, and for the dependent
13 children, under the conditions outlined in this paragraph.
14 However:
15 a. Health insurance benefits payable from any other
16 source shall reduce benefits payable under this section.
17 b. It is unlawful for a person to willfully and
18 knowingly make, or cause to be made, or to assist, conspire
19 with, or urge another to make, or cause to be made, any false,
20 fraudulent, or misleading oral or written statement to obtain
21 health insurance coverage as provided under this paragraph. A
22 person who violates this sub-subparagraph commits a
23 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
24 775.082 or s. 775.083.
25 c. In addition to any applicable criminal penalty,
26 upon conviction for a violation as described in
27 sub-subparagraph b., a law enforcement, correctional, or
28 correctional probation officer or other beneficiary who
29 receives or seeks to receive health insurance benefits under
30 this paragraph shall forfeit the right to receive such health
31 insurance benefits, and shall reimburse the employer for all
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1 benefits paid due to the fraud or other prohibited activity.
2 For purposes of this sub-subparagraph, "conviction" means a
3 determination of guilt that is the result of a plea or trial,
4 regardless of whether adjudication is withheld.
5 2. In order for the officer, spouse, and dependent
6 children to be eligible for such insurance coverage, the
7 injury must have occurred as the result of the officer's
8 response to fresh pursuit, the officer's response to what is
9 reasonably believed to be an emergency, or an unlawful act
10 perpetrated by another. Except as otherwise provided herein,
11 nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit health
12 insurance coverage for which the officer, spouse, or dependent
13 children may otherwise be eligible, except that a person who
14 qualifies under this section shall not be eligible for the
15 health insurance subsidy provided under chapter 121, chapter
16 175, or chapter 185.
17 (i) The Bureau of Crime Prevention and Training within
18 the Department of Legal Affairs shall adopt rules necessary to
19 implement paragraphs (a), (b), and (c).
20 (3) If a law enforcement, correctional, or
21 correctional probation officer is accidentally killed as
22 specified in paragraph (2)(b) on or after June 22, 1990, or
23 unlawfully and intentionally killed as specified in paragraph
24 (2)(c) on or after July 1, 1980, the state shall waive certain
25 educational expenses that which children of the deceased
26 officer incur while obtaining a vocational-technical
27 certificate, or an undergraduate education, or a graduate or
28 postbaccalaureate professional degree. The amount waived by
29 the state shall be an amount equal to the cost of tuition, and
30 matriculation, and other statutorily authorized registration
31 fees for a total of 120 credit hours for a
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1 vocational-technical certificate or an undergraduate
2 education. For a child pursuing a graduate or
3 postbaccalaureate professional degree, the amount waived shall
4 equal the cost of matriculation and other statutorily
5 authorized fees incurred while the child continues to fulfill
6 the professional requirements associated with the graduate or
7 postbaccalaureate professional degree program, and eligibility
8 continues until the child's 29th birthday. The child may
9 attend a state vocational-technical school, a state community
10 college, or a state university. The child may attend any or
11 all of the institutions specified in this subsection, on
12 either a full-time or part-time basis. For a child pursuing a
13 vocational-technical certificate or an undergraduate
14 education, the benefits provided under this subsection shall
15 continue to the child until the child's 25th birthday. To be
16 eligible for the benefits provided under this subsection for
17 enrollment in a graduate or postbaccalaureate professional
18 degree program, the child must be a state resident, as defined
19 in s. 240.1201, at the time of enrollment.
20 (a) Upon failure of any child benefited by the
21 provisions of this section to comply with the ordinary and
22 minimum requirements of the institution attended, both as to
23 discipline and scholarship, the benefits shall be withdrawn as
24 to the child and no further moneys may be expended for the
25 child's benefits so long as such failure or delinquency
26 continues.
27 (b) Only a student in good standing in his or her
28 respective institution may receive the benefits thereof.
29 (c) A child receiving benefits under this section must
30 be enrolled according to the customary rules and requirements
31 of the institution attended.
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1 (4)(a) The employer of such law enforcement,
2 correctional, or correctional probation officer is liable for
3 the payment of the sums specified in this section and is
4 deemed self-insured, unless it procures and maintains, or has
5 already procured and maintained, insurance to secure such
6 payments. Any such insurance may cover only the risks
7 indicated in this section, in the amounts indicated in this
8 section, or it may cover those risks and additional risks and
9 may be in larger amounts. Any such insurance shall be placed
10 by such employer only after public bid of such insurance
11 coverage which coverage shall be awarded to the carrier making
12 the lowest best bid.
13 (b) Payment of benefits to beneficiaries of state
14 employees, or of the premiums to cover the risk, under the
15 provisions of this section shall be paid from existing funds
16 otherwise appropriated to the department employing the law
17 enforcement, correctional, or correctional probation officers.
18 (5) The Department of Education shall adopt rules and
19 procedures as are necessary to implement the educational
20 benefits provisions of this section.
21 (6) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to
22 the contrary, the death benefits provided in paragraphs (2)(c)
23 and (g) shall also be applicable and paid in cases where an
24 officer received bodily injury prior to July 1, 1993, and
25 subsequently died on or after July 1, 1993, as a result of
26 such in-line-of-duty injury attributable to an unlawful and
27 intentional act, or an act of violence inflicted by another,
28 or an assault on the officer under riot conditions. Payment
29 of such benefits shall be in accordance with provisions of
30 this section. Nothing in this provision shall be construed to
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1 limit death benefits for which those individuals listed in
2 paragraph (2)(d) may otherwise be eligible.
3 Section 2. Section 112.191, Florida Statutes, is
4 amended to read:
5 112.191 Firefighters; death benefits.--
6 (1) Whenever used in this act:
7 (a) The term "employer" means a state board,
8 commission, department, division, bureau or agency, or a
9 county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the
10 state.
11 (b) The term "firefighter" means any full-time duly
12 employed uniformed firefighter employed by an employer, whose
13 primary duty is the prevention and extinguishing of fires, the
14 protection of life and property therefrom, the enforcement of
15 municipal, county, and state fire prevention codes, as well as
16 the enforcement of any law pertaining to the prevention and
17 control of fires, who is certified pursuant to s. 633.35, and
18 who is a member of a duly constituted fire department of such
19 employer or who is a volunteer firefighter.
20 (c) The term "insurance" means insurance procured from
21 a stock company or mutual company or association or exchange
22 authorized to do business as an insurer in this state.
23 (2)(a) The sum of $25,000 shall be paid as hereinafter
24 provided when a firefighter, while engaged in the performance
25 of his or her firefighter duties, is accidentally killed or
26 receives accidental bodily injury which subsequently results
27 in the loss of the firefighter's life, provided that such
28 killing is not the result of suicide and that such bodily
29 injury is not intentionally self-inflicted.
30 (b) The sum of $25,000 shall be paid as hereinafter
31 provided if a firefighter is accidentally killed as specified
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1 in paragraph (a) and the accidental death occurs as a result
2 of the firefighter's response to what is reasonably believed
3 to be an emergency involving the protection of life or
4 property. This sum shall be in addition to any sum provided
5 for in paragraph (a).
6 (c) If a firefighter, while engaged in the performance
7 of his or her firefighter duties, is unlawfully and
8 intentionally killed, dies as a result of a fire which has
9 been determined to have been caused by an act of arson, or
10 subsequently dies as a result of injuries sustained therefrom,
11 the sum of $75,000 shall be paid as hereinafter provided.
12 (d) Such payments, pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b),
13 and (c), whether secured by insurance or not, shall be made to
14 the beneficiary designated by such firefighter in writing,
15 signed by the firefighter and delivered to the employer during
16 the firefighter's lifetime. If no such designation is made,
17 then it shall be paid to the firefighter's surviving child or
18 children and spouse in equal portions, and if there be no
19 surviving child or spouse, then to the firefighter's parent or
20 parents. If a beneficiary designation is not made and there
21 is no surviving child, spouse, or parent, then it shall be
22 paid to the firefighter's estate.
23 (e) Such payments, pursuant to the provisions of
24 paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), shall be in addition to any
25 workers' compensation or pension benefits and shall be exempt
26 from the claims and demands of creditors of such firefighter.
27 (f) Any political subdivision of the state that
28 employs a full-time firefighter who is killed in the line of
29 duty on or after July 1, 1993, as a result of an act of
30 violence inflicted by another person while the firefighter is
31 engaged in the performance of firefighter duties, as a result
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1 of a fire which has been determined to have been caused by an
2 act of arson, or as a result of an assault against the
3 firefighter under riot conditions shall pay the entire premium
4 of the political subdivision's health insurance plan for the
5 employee's surviving spouse until remarried, and for each
6 dependent child of the employee until the child reaches the
7 age of majority or until the end of the calendar year in which
8 the child reaches the age of 25 if:
9 1. At the time of the employee's death, the child is
10 dependent upon the employee for support; and
11 2. The surviving child continues to be dependent for
12 support, or the surviving child is a full-time or part-time
13 student and is dependent for support.
14 (g)1. Any employer who employs a full-time firefighter
15 who, on or after January 1, 1995, suffers a catastrophic
16 injury, as defined in s. 440.02(37), in the line of duty shall
17 pay the entire premium of the employer's health insurance plan
18 for the injured employee, the injured employee's spouse, and
19 for each dependent child of the injured employee until the
20 child reaches the age of majority or until the end of the
21 calendar year in which the child reaches the age of 25 if the
22 child continues to be dependent for support, or the child is a
23 full-time or part-time student and is dependent for support.
24 The term "health insurance plan" does not include supplemental
25 benefits that are not part of the basic group health insurance
26 plan. If the injured employee subsequently dies, the employer
27 shall continue to pay the entire health insurance premium for
28 the surviving spouse until remarried, and for the dependent
29 children, under the conditions outlined in this paragraph.
30 However:
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1 a. Health insurance benefits payable from any other
2 source shall reduce benefits payable under this section.
3 b. It is unlawful for a person to willfully and
4 knowingly make, or cause to be made, or to assist, conspire
5 with, or urge another to make, or cause to be made, any false,
6 fraudulent, or misleading oral or written statement to obtain
7 health insurance coverage as provided under this paragraph. A
8 person who violates this sub-subparagraph commits a
9 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
10 775.082 or s. 775.083.
11 c. In addition to any applicable criminal penalty,
12 upon conviction for a violation as described in
13 sub-subparagraph b., a firefighter or other beneficiary who
14 receives or seeks to receive health insurance benefits under
15 this paragraph shall forfeit the right to receive such health
16 insurance benefits, and shall reimburse the employer for all
17 benefits paid due to the fraud or other prohibited activity.
18 For purposes of this sub-subparagraph, "conviction" means a
19 determination of guilt that is the result of a plea or trial,
20 regardless of whether adjudication is withheld.
21 2. In order for the firefighter, spouse, and dependent
22 children to be eligible for such insurance coverage, the
23 injury must have occurred as the result of the firefighter's
24 response to what is reasonably believed to be an emergency
25 involving the protection of life or property, or an unlawful
26 act perpetrated by another. Except as otherwise provided
27 herein, nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit
28 health insurance coverage for which the firefighter, spouse,
29 or dependent children may otherwise be eligible, except that a
30 person who qualifies for benefits under this section shall not
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1 be eligible for the health insurance subsidy provided under
2 chapter 121, chapter 175, or chapter 185.
3
4 Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,
5 the death benefits provided in paragraphs (b), (c), and (f)
6 shall also be applicable and paid in cases where a firefighter
7 received bodily injury prior to July 1, 1993, and subsequently
8 died on or after July 1, 1993, as a result of such
9 in-line-of-duty injury.
10 (h) The Division of the State Fire Marshal within the
11 Department of Insurance is directed to promulgate rules as are
12 necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
13 (3) If a firefighter is accidentally killed as
14 specified in paragraph (2)(b) on or after June 22, 1990, or
15 unlawfully and intentionally killed as specified in paragraph
16 (2)(c), on or after July 1, 1980, the state shall waive
17 certain educational expenses that which children of the
18 deceased firefighter incur while obtaining a
19 vocational-technical certificate, or an undergraduate
20 education, or a graduate or postbaccalaureate professional
21 degree. The amount waived by the state shall be an amount
22 equal to the cost of tuition, and matriculation, and other
23 statutorily authorized registration fees for a total of 120
24 credit hours for a vocational-technical certificate or an
25 undergraduate education. For a child pursuing a graduate or
26 postbaccalaureate professional degree, the amount waived shall
27 equal the cost of matriculation and other statutorily
28 authorized fees incurred while the child continues to fulfill
29 the professional requirements associated with the graduate or
30 postbaccalaureate professional degree program, and eligibility
31 continues until the child's 29th birthday. The child may
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1 attend a state vocational-technical school, a state community
2 college, or a state university. The child may attend any or
3 all of the institutions specified in this subsection, on
4 either a full-time or part-time basis. For a child pursuing a
5 vocational-technical certificate or an undergraduate
6 education, the benefits provided under this subsection shall
7 continue to such a child until the child's 25th birthday. To
8 be eligible for the benefits provided under this subsection
9 for enrollment in a graduate or postbaccalaureate professional
10 degree program, the child must be a state resident, as defined
11 in s. 240.1201, at the time of enrollment.
12 (a) Upon failure of any child benefited by the
13 provisions of this section to comply with the ordinary and
14 minimum requirements of the institution attended, both as to
15 discipline and scholarship, the benefits thereof shall be
16 withdrawn as to the child and no further moneys expended for
17 the child's benefits so long as such failure or delinquency
18 continues.
19 (b) Only students in good standing in their respective
20 institutions shall receive the benefits thereof.
21 (c) All children receiving benefits under this section
22 shall be enrolled according to the customary rules and
23 requirements of the institution attended.
24 (4)(a) The employer of such firefighter shall be
25 liable for the payment of said sums specified in this section
26 and shall be deemed self-insured, unless it procures and
27 maintains, or has already procured and maintained, insurance
28 to secure such payments. Any such insurance may cover only the
29 risks indicated in this section, in the amounts indicated in
30 this section, or it may cover those risks and additional risks
31 and may be in larger amounts. Any such insurance shall be
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1 placed by such employer only after public bid of such
2 insurance coverage which coverage shall be awarded to the
3 carrier making the lowest best bid.
4 (b) Payment of benefits to beneficiaries of state
5 employees, or of the premiums to cover the risk, under the
6 provisions of this section, shall be paid from existing funds
7 otherwise appropriated for the department.
8 (5) The Department of Education shall adopt is
9 directed to promulgate rules and procedures as are necessary
10 to implement the educational benefits provisions of this
11 section.
12 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.
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