Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1518
By Senator Rodriguez
37-00894A-18 20181518__
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 to the class employees of a water, sewer, or
5 other public works department of a participating
6 employer who work in certain hazardous conditions and
7 individuals employed as police service aides;
8 providing a declaration of important state interest;
9 providing an effective date.
10
11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
13 Section 1. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2), subsection (3),
14 and paragraph (d) of subsection (8) of section 121.0515, Florida
15 Statutes, are amended to read:
16 121.0515 Special Risk Class.—
17 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—
18 (h) Effective August 1, 2008, “special risk member”
19 includes any member who meets the special criteria for continued
20 membership set forth in paragraph (3)(l) (3)(j).
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; however,
99 probation and parole circuit and deputy circuit administrators
100 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 registered nurse practitioner (class codes
123 5297 and 5300);
124 17. Advanced registered nurse practitioner specialist
125 (class 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) Effective July 1, 2018, the member must be employed in
177 a water, sewer, or other public works department of a
178 participating employer and must spend the majority of his or her
179 time performing duties that include working in hazardous
180 conditions, such as responding to a chemical release or spill;
181 working in a confined space with oxygen deficiencies and
182 poisonous gases; cutting cement pipes or materials containing
183 asbestos; pouring lead joints; performing work with toxic or
184 hazardous chemicals or toxic, hazardous, or industrial
185 wastewater requiring the use of an air respirator or a self
186 contained breathing apparatus; or performing work in a confined
187 space where there is a clear and present safety or health hazard
188 that poses an imminent risk to the life and safety of the
189 member;
190 (k) Effective January 1, 2019, the member must be employed
191 by a law enforcement agency as a police service aide whose
192 primary employment duties include providing support services to
193 law enforcement officers, including, but not limited to,
194 responding to emergency and nonemergency calls for service; or
195 (l) The member must have already qualified for and be
196 actively participating in special risk membership under
197 paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), must have
198 suffered a qualifying injury as defined in this paragraph, must
199 not be receiving disability retirement benefits as provided in
200 s. 121.091(4), and must satisfy the requirements of this
201 paragraph.
202 1. The ability to qualify for the class of membership
203 defined in paragraph (2)(h) occurs when two licensed medical
204 physicians, one of whom is a primary treating physician of the
205 member, certify the existence of the physical injury and medical
206 condition that constitute a qualifying injury as defined in this
207 paragraph and that the member has reached maximum medical
208 improvement after August 1, 2008. The certifications from the
209 licensed medical physicians must include, at a minimum, that the
210 injury to the special risk member has resulted in a physical
211 loss, or loss of use, of at least two of the following: left
212 arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg; and that:
213 a. The That this physical loss or loss of use is total and
214 permanent, unless except if the loss of use is due to a physical
215 injury to the member’s brain, in which event the loss of use is
216 permanent with at least 75 percent loss of motor function with
217 respect to each arm or leg affected.
218 b. The That this physical loss or loss of use renders the
219 member physically unable to perform the essential job functions
220 of his or her special risk position.
221 c. That, Notwithstanding this physical loss or loss of use,
222 the individual can perform the essential job functions required
223 by the member’s new position, as provided in subparagraph 3.
224 d. The That use of artificial limbs is not possible or does
225 not alter the member’s ability to perform the essential job
226 functions of the member’s position.
227 e. That The physical loss or loss of use is a direct result
228 of a physical injury and not a result of any mental,
229 psychological, or emotional injury.
230 2. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “qualifying
231 injury” means an injury sustained in the line of duty, as
232 certified by the member’s employing agency, by a special risk
233 member that does not result in total and permanent disability as
234 defined in s. 121.091(4)(b). An injury is a qualifying injury if
235 the injury is a physical injury to the member’s physical body
236 resulting in a physical loss, or loss of use, of at least two of
237 the following: left arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg.
238 Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an injury
239 that would otherwise qualify as a qualifying injury is not
240 considered a qualifying injury if and when the member ceases
241 employment with the employer for whom he or she was providing
242 special risk services on the date the injury occurred.
243 3. The new position, as described in sub-subparagraph 1.c.,
244 which that is required for qualification as a special risk
245 member under this paragraph is not required to be a position
246 with essential job functions that entitle an individual to
247 special risk membership. Whether a new position as described in
248 sub-subparagraph 1.c. exists and is available to the special
249 risk member is a decision to be made solely by the employer in
250 accordance with its hiring practices and applicable law.
251 4. This paragraph does not grant or create additional
252 rights for any individual to continued employment or to be hired
253 or rehired by his or her employer which that are not already
254 provided by state law within the Florida Statutes, the State
255 Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, if
256 applicable, or any other applicable state or federal law.
257 (8) SPECIAL RISK ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CLASS.—
258 (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection,
259 this subsection does not apply to any special risk member who
260 qualifies for continued membership pursuant to paragraph (3)(l)
261 (3)(j).
262 Section 2. The Legislature finds that a proper and
263 legitimate state purpose is served when employees and retirees
264 of the state and its political subdivisions, and the dependents,
265 survivors, and beneficiaries of such employees and retirees, are
266 extended the basic protections afforded by governmental
267 retirement systems. These persons must be provided benefits that
268 are fair and adequate and are managed, administered, and funded
269 in an actuarially sound manner, as required by s. 14, Article X
270 of the State Constitution and part VII of chapter 112, Florida
271 Statutes. Therefore, the Legislature determines and declares
272 that this act fulfills an important state interest.
273 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.