Senate Bill sb2072
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 2072
By Senator Oelrich
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the State Retirement System;
3 creating s. 121.0517, F.S.; creating the
4 Qualifying Injured Special Risk Class in the
5 system; declaring legislative intent; providing
6 conditions of eligibility for membership in the
7 class; providing consequences and benefits of
8 membership; providing an effective date.
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10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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12 Section 1. Section 121.0517, Florida Statutes, is
13 created to read:
14 121.0517 Qualifying injured special risk membership.--
15 (1) In creating the Qualifying Injured Special Risk
16 Class of membership within the Florida Retirement System, it
17 is the intent and purpose of the Legislature to recognize that
18 persons employed in positions in the categories of law
19 enforcement, firefighting, and criminal detention are required
20 as one of the essential functions of their positions to
21 perform work that is unusually dangerous and physically
22 demanding or arduous or work that requires extraordinary
23 agility. The Legislature further recognizes that these
24 persons, because their jobs expose them to such risk, may
25 suffer a disability in line of duty, as defined in s.
26 121.021(13). It is the intent that, if such disability in line
27 of duty is a "qualifying injury" as defined in subsection (4),
28 a special risk member may be reclassified as a "qualifying
29 injured special risk member." The intent of creating the
30 qualifying injured special risk class is to rectify situations
31 in which a special risk member is not receiving disability
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 2072
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1 retirement benefits but, due to a qualifying injury, will
2 suffer a severe economic deprivation due to the loss of future
3 benefit accruals at the special risk membership rate.
4 Therefore, as a means of recognizing the peculiar and special
5 risk to this class of employees, it is the intent and purpose
6 of the Legislature to establish a class of retirement
7 membership which continues to award retirement benefits at the
8 special risk membership rate for those public servants
9 identified in this section who sustain qualifying injuries in
10 the line of duty and to avoid penalizing them because of a
11 qualifying injury when the member is not receiving disability
12 retirement benefits. This section does not require that the
13 member be ineligible for qualifying injured special risk
14 membership or special risk membership upon reaching age 55.
15 However, a member becomes ineligible for membership in the
16 qualifying injured special risk class upon attaining his or
17 her normal retirement date.
18 (2) To be eligible under this section for membership,
19 the member must have already qualified for and be actively
20 participating in the special risk class of membership under s.
21 121.0515 at the time of the qualifying injury and must not be
22 receiving disability retirement benefits under the disability
23 retirement provisions of s. 121.091(4).
24 (3) The ability to qualify for this class of
25 membership occurs only when two licensed medical physicians,
26 one of whom must be a primary treating physician of the
27 employee, have certified the existence of the physical injury
28 and medical condition that constitutes a qualifying injury as
29 defined in subsection (4) and upon the employee reaching
30 maximum medical improvement after October 1, 2007. The
31 certifications must include, at a minimum, all the following:
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 2072
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1 (a) That the injury to the special risk member has
2 resulted in a physical loss or loss of use of one or more
3 arms, legs, hands, or feet;
4 (b) That this physical loss or loss of use is total
5 and permanent, except in the event of a physical injury to the
6 special risk member's brain, in which event the loss of use
7 is:
8 1. Permanent and total with respect to at least one
9 hand or one foot; or
10 2. Permanent with at least 75 percent loss of motor
11 function with respect to one arm or one leg;
12 (c) That this physical loss or loss of use renders the
13 special risk member physically unable to perform the essential
14 job functions of his or her special risk position;
15 (d) That, notwithstanding this physical loss or loss
16 of use, the individual is able to perform the essential job
17 functions required by his or her new position;
18 (e) That the use of artificial limbs either is not
19 possible or does not change the special risk member's ability
20 to perform the essential job functions of his or her position;
21 and
22 (f) That the physical loss or loss of use of one or
23 more arms, legs, hands, or feet is a direct result of a
24 physical injury and not of any mental, psychological, or
25 emotional injury.
26 (4) For the purposes of this section, the term
27 "qualifying injury" means an injury in the line of duty, as
28 certified by the member's employing agency, to a special risk
29 member which does not result in total and permanent disability
30 as defined in s. 121.091(4)(b). An injury is not a qualifying
31 injury unless the injury is a physical injury to the special
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 2072
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1 risk member's physical body resulting in a physical loss or
2 loss of use of one or more arms, legs, hands, or feet.
3 Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, an
4 injury that would otherwise qualify as a qualifying injury
5 shall not be treated as a qualifying injury or shall cease
6 conforming to the definition of qualifying injury if and when
7 the special risk member ceases employment with the employer
8 for whom he or she was providing special risk services on the
9 date the injury occurred.
10 (5) This section does not grant or create additional
11 rights for any individual to continued employment, to be
12 hired, or to be rehired with his or her employer which are not
13 already provided within the Florida Statutes, the Florida
14 Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, if
15 applicable, or any other applicable state or federal law.
16 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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19 SENATE SUMMARY
20 Creates the Qualifying Injured Special Risk Class in the
State Retirement System to provide for continued
21 employment of special risk members who have sustained
qualifying injuries but are neither receiving disability
22 retirement benefits nor able to continue performing the
previous functions of their special risk employment but
23 are able to perform the functions of new jobs with that
special risk employer.
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