Florida Senate - 2019 CS for CS for SB 426 By the Committees on Appropriations; and Community Affairs; and Senators Flores, Torres, Hooper, Perry, Gruters, Broxson, Stewart, Taddeo, Berman, Powell, Mayfield, Rouson, Montford, Bracy, Farmer, Book, Gibson, and Bean 576-04171A-19 2019426c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to firefighters; creating s. 112.1816, 3 F.S.; providing definitions; granting certain benefits 4 to a firefighter upon receiving a diagnosis of cancer 5 if certain conditions are met; requiring an employer 6 to make certain disability payments to a firefighter 7 in the event of a total and permanent disability; 8 providing for death benefits to a firefighter’s 9 beneficiary if a firefighter dies as a result of 10 cancer or cancer treatments; specifying that any costs 11 associated with benefits granted by the act must be 12 borne by the employer; requiring the Division of State 13 Fire Marshal to adopt certain rules; amending s. 14 121.735, F.S.; adjusting the allocation of funds to 15 provide line-of-duty death benefits for members in the 16 investment plan of the Florida Retirement System; 17 directing the Division of Law Revision to adjust the 18 employer contribution rates for the Special Risk Class 19 and DROP in the Florida Retirement System; providing a 20 declaration of important state interest; providing an 21 effective date. 22 23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24 25 Section 1. Section 112.1816, Florida Statutes, is created 26 to read: 27 112.1816 Firefighters; cancer diagnosis.— 28 (1) As used in this section, the term: 29 (a) “Cancer” includes: 30 1. Bladder cancer. 31 2. Brain cancer. 32 3. Breast cancer. 33 4. Cervical cancer. 34 5. Colon cancer. 35 6. Esophageal cancer. 36 7. Invasive skin cancer. 37 8. Kidney cancer. 38 9. Large intestinal cancer. 39 10. Lung cancer. 40 11. Malignant melanoma. 41 12. Mesothelioma. 42 13. Multiple myeloma. 43 14. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 44 15. Oral cavity and pharynx cancer. 45 16. Ovarian cancer. 46 17. Prostate cancer. 47 18. Rectal cancer. 48 19. Stomach cancer. 49 20. Testicular cancer. 50 21. Thyroid cancer. 51 (b) “Employer” has the same meaning as in s. 112.191. 52 (c) “Firefighter” means an individual employed as a full 53 time firefighter within the fire department or public safety 54 department of an employer whose primary responsibilities are the 55 prevention and extinguishing of fires; the protection of life 56 and property; and the enforcement of municipal, county, and 57 state fire prevention codes and laws pertaining to the 58 prevention and control of fires. 59 (2) Upon a diagnosis of cancer, a firefighter is entitled 60 to the following benefits, as an alternative to pursuing 61 workers’ compensation benefits under chapter 440, if the 62 firefighter has been employed by his or her employer for at 63 least 5 continuous years, has not used tobacco products for at 64 least the preceding 5 years, and has not been employed in any 65 other position in the preceding 5 years which is proven to 66 create a higher risk for any cancer: 67 (a) Cancer treatment covered within an employer-sponsored 68 health plan or through a group health insurance trust fund. The 69 employer must timely reimburse the firefighter for any out-of 70 pocket deductible, copayment, or coinsurance costs incurred due 71 to the treatment of cancer. 72 (b) A one-time cash payout of $25,000, upon the 73 firefighter’s initial diagnosis of cancer. 74 75 If the firefighter elects to continue coverage in the employer 76 sponsored health plan or group health insurance trust fund after 77 he or she terminates employment, the benefits specified in 78 paragraphs (a) and (b) must be made available by the former 79 employer of a firefighter for 10 years following the date on 80 which the firefighter terminates employment so long as the 81 firefighter otherwise met the criteria specified in this 82 subsection when he or she terminated employment and was not 83 subsequently employed as a firefighter following that date. For 84 purposes of determining leave time and employee retention 85 policies, the employer must consider a firefighter’s cancer 86 diagnosis as an injury or illness incurred in the line of duty. 87 (3)(a) If the firefighter participates in an employer 88 sponsored retirement plan, the retirement plan must consider the 89 firefighter totally and permanently disabled in the line of duty 90 if he or she meets the retirement plan’s definition of totally 91 and permanently disabled due to the diagnosis of cancer or 92 circumstances that arise out of the treatment of cancer. 93 (b) If the firefighter does not participate in an employer 94 sponsored retirement plan, the employer must provide a 95 disability retirement plan that provides the firefighter with at 96 least 42 percent of his or her annual salary, at no cost to the 97 firefighter, until the firefighter’s death, as coverage for 98 total and permanent disabilities attributable to the diagnosis 99 of cancer which arise out of the treatment of cancer. 100 (4)(a) If the firefighter participated in an employer 101 sponsored retirement plan, the retirement plan must consider the 102 firefighter to have died in the line of duty if he or she dies 103 as a result of cancer or circumstances that arise out of the 104 treatment of cancer. 105 (b) If the firefighter did not participate in an employer 106 sponsored retirement plan, the employer must provide a death 107 benefit to the firefighter’s beneficiary, at no cost to the 108 firefighter or his or her beneficiary, totaling at least 42 109 percent of the firefighter’s most recent annual salary for at 110 least 10 years following the firefighter’s death as a result of 111 cancer or circumstances that arise out of the treatment of 112 cancer. 113 (c) Firefighters who die as a result of cancer or 114 circumstances that arise out of the treatment of cancer are 115 considered to have died in the manner as described in s. 116 112.191(2)(a), and all of the benefits arising out of such death 117 are available to the deceased firefighter’s beneficiary. 118 (5) The costs of providing the reimbursement, lump sum, and 119 retirement benefits made available under this section must be 120 borne solely by the employer that employs firefighters. 121 (6) The Division of State Fire Marshal within the 122 Department of Financial Services shall adopt rules to establish 123 employer cancer prevention best practices as it relates to 124 personal protective equipment, decontamination, fire suppression 125 apparatus, and fire stations. 126 Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 121.735, Florida 127 Statutes, is amended to read: 128 121.735 Allocations for member line-of-duty death benefits; 129 percentage amounts.— 130 (3)Effective July 1, 2017,Allocations from the Florida 131 Retirement System Contributions Clearing Trust Fund to provide 132 line-of-duty death benefits for members in the investment plan 133 and to offset the costs of administering said coverage, are as 134 follows: 135 136 137 Membership Class Percentage of Gross Compensation 138 Regular Class 0.05% 139 Special Risk Class 1.21%1.15%140 Special Risk Administrative Support Class 0.03% 141 Elected Officers’ Class— Legislators, Governor, Lt. Governor, Cabinet Officers, State Attorneys, Public Defenders 0.15% 142 Elected Officers’ Class— Justices, Judges 0.09% 143 Elected Officers’ Class— County Elected Officers 0.20% 144 Senior Management Service Class 0.05% 145 Section 3. (1) In order to fund the benefit changes 146 provided by this act to the Florida Retirement System, the 147 required employer contribution rates for the members of the 148 Florida Retirement System are increased as follows: 149 (a) By 0.08 percentage point for the rate established in s. 150 121.71(4), Florida Statutes, for the Special Risk Class. 151 (b) By 0.01 percentage point for the rate established in s. 152 121.71(5), Florida Statutes, for the Special Risk Class. 153 (c) By 0.02 percentage point for the rate established in s. 154 121.71(5), Florida Statutes, for DROP. 155 (2) The adjustments provided in subsection (1) are in 156 addition to any other changes to such contribution rates which 157 may be enacted into law to take effect on July 1, 2019. The 158 Division of Law Revision is directed to adjust accordingly the 159 contribution rates provided in s. 121.71, Florida Statutes. 160 Section 4. The Legislature determines and declares that 161 this act fulfills an important state interest. 162 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.