Florida Senate - 2011 (Corrected Copy) SB 442
By Senator Hill
1-00234A-11 2011442__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Florida Retirement System;
3 amending s. 121.021, F.S.; redefining the term
4 “special risk member”; amending s. 121.0515, F.S.;
5 revising criteria for membership in the special risk
6 class to include members employed by public acute care
7 hospitals serving certain patients; providing
8 legislative findings that the act fulfills an
9 important state interest; providing an effective date.
10
11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
13 Section 1. Subsection (15) of section 121.021, Florida
14 Statutes, is amended to read:
15 121.021 Definitions.—The following words and phrases as
16 used in this chapter have the respective meanings set forth
17 unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:
18 (15) “Special risk member” means a member who meets the
19 criteria specified in s. 121.0515.
20 (a) Until October 1, 1978, “special risk member” means any
21 officer or employee whose application is approved by the
22 administrator and who receives salary payments for work
23 performed as a peace officer; law enforcement officer; police
24 officer; highway patrol officer; custodial employee at a
25 correctional or detention facility; correctional agency employee
26 whose duties and responsibilities involve direct contact with
27 inmates, but excluding secretarial and clerical employees;
28 firefighter; or an employee in any other job in the field of law
29 enforcement or fire protection if the duties of such person are
30 certified as hazardous by his or her employer.
31 (b) Effective October 1, 1978, “special risk member” means
32 a member of the Florida Retirement System who is designated as a
33 special risk member by the division in accordance with s.
34 121.0515. Such member must be employed as a law enforcement
35 officer, a firefighter, or a correctional officer and must meet
36 certain other special criteria as set forth in s. 121.0515.
37 (c) Effective October 1, 1999, “special risk member” means
38 a member of the Florida Retirement System who is designated as a
39 special risk member by the division in accordance with s.
40 121.0515. Such member must be employed as a law enforcement
41 officer, a firefighter, a correctional officer, an emergency
42 medical technician, or a paramedic and must meet certain other
43 special criteria as set forth in s. 121.0515.
44 (d)1. Effective January 1, 2001, “special risk member”
45 includes any member who is employed as a community-based
46 correctional probation officer and meets the special criteria
47 set forth in s. 121.0515(2)(e).
48 2. Effective January 1, 2001, “special risk member”
49 includes any professional health care bargaining unit or non
50 unit member who is employed by the Department of Corrections or
51 the Department of Children and Family Services and meets the
52 special criteria set forth in s. 121.0515(2)(f).
53 (e) Effective July 1, 2001, the term “special risk member”
54 includes any member who is employed as a youth custody officer
55 by the Department of Juvenile Justice and meets the special
56 criteria set forth in s. 121.0515(2)(g).
57 (f) Effective August 1, 2008, “special risk member”
58 includes any member who meets the special criteria for continued
59 membership set forth in s. 121.0515(2)(k).
60 Section 2. Subsection (2), paragraph (b) of subsection (4),
61 paragraph (d) of subsection (7), and paragraph (c) of subsection
62 (9) of section 121.0515, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
63 121.0515 Special risk membership.—
64 (2) CRITERIA.—Prior to October 1, 1978 A member, to be
65 designated as a special risk member, the member’s application
66 must be approved by the administrator and the member must
67 receive salary payments for work performed as a peace officer;
68 law enforcement officer; police officer; highway patrol officer;
69 custodial employee at a correctional or detention facility;
70 correctional agency employee whose duties and responsibilities
71 involve direct contact with inmates, but excluding secretarial
72 and clerical employees; firefighter; or an employee in any other
73 job in the field of law enforcement or fire protection if the
74 member’s duties are certified as hazardous by his or her
75 employer. Effective October 1, 1978, a member must be designated
76 as a special risk member by the department and must meet the
77 following criteria:
78 (a) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed
79 as a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, or a correctional
80 officer and:
81 1.(a) If employed The member must be employed as a law
82 enforcement officer, the member must and be certified, or
83 required to be certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395;
84 however, sheriffs and elected police chiefs are shall be
85 excluded from meeting the certification requirements of this
86 paragraph. In addition, the member’s duties and responsibilities
87 must include the pursuit, apprehension, and arrest of law
88 violators or suspected law violators; or the member must be an
89 active member of a bomb disposal unit whose primary
90 responsibility is the location, handling, and disposal of
91 explosive devices; or the member must be the supervisor or
92 command officer of a member or members who have such
93 responsibilities.; provided, however, Administrative support
94 personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose primary
95 duties and responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing,
96 legal, and personnel, are shall not be included;
97 2.(b) If employed The member must be employed as a
98 firefighter, the member must and be certified, or required to be
99 certified, in compliance with s. 633.35 and be employed solely
100 within the fire department of a local government employer or an
101 agency of state government with firefighting responsibilities.
102 In addition, the member’s duties and responsibilities must
103 include on-the-scene fighting of fires, fire prevention, or
104 firefighter training; direct supervision of firefighting units,
105 fire prevention, or firefighter training; or aerial firefighting
106 surveillance performed by fixed-wing aircraft pilots employed by
107 the Division of Forestry of the Department of Agriculture and
108 Consumer Services; or the member must be the supervisor or
109 command officer of a member or members who have such
110 responsibilities.; provided, however, Administrative support
111 personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose primary
112 duties and responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing,
113 legal, and personnel, are shall not be included; however, and
114 further provided that all periods of creditable service in fire
115 prevention or firefighter training, or as the supervisor or
116 command officer of a member or members who have such
117 responsibilities, and for which the employer paid the special
118 risk contribution rate, are shall be included; or
119 3.(c) If employed The member must be employed as a
120 correctional officer, the member must and be certified, or
121 required to be certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395. In
122 addition, the member’s primary duties and responsibilities must
123 be the custody, and physical restraint when necessary, of
124 prisoners or inmates within a prison, jail, or other criminal
125 detention facility, or while on work detail outside the
126 facility, or while being transported; or the member must be the
127 supervisor or command officer of a member or members who have
128 such responsibilities.; provided, however, Administrative
129 support personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose
130 primary duties and responsibilities are in accounting,
131 purchasing, legal, and personnel, are shall not be included;
132 however, wardens and assistant wardens, as defined by rule,
133 shall participate in the Special Risk Class.;
134 (b) Effective October 1, 1999, special risk membership also
135 includes an emergency medical technician or paramedic who is
136 (d) The member must be employed by a licensed Advance Life
137 Support (ALS) or Basic Life Support (BLS) employer as an
138 emergency medical technician or a paramedic and be certified in
139 compliance with s. 401.27. In addition, the member’s primary
140 duties and responsibilities must include on-the-scene emergency
141 medical care or direct supervision of emergency medical
142 technicians or paramedics, or the member must be the supervisor
143 or command officer of one or more members who have such
144 responsibility. However, Administrative support personnel,
145 including, but not limited to, those whose primary
146 responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and
147 personnel, are shall not be included.;
148 (c) Effective January 1, 2001, special risk membership also
149 includes a community-based correctional probation officer who is
150 (e) The member must be employed as a community-based
151 correctional probation officer and is be certified, or required
152 to be certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395. In addition,
153 the member’s primary duties and responsibilities must be the
154 supervised custody, surveillance, control, investigation, and
155 counseling of assigned inmates, probationers, parolees, or
156 community controllees within the community; or the member must
157 be the supervisor of a member or members who have such
158 responsibilities. Administrative support personnel, including,
159 but not limited to, those whose primary duties and
160 responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal services,
161 and personnel management, are shall not be included; however,
162 probation and parole circuit and deputy circuit administrators
163 shall participate in the Special Risk Class.;
164 (d) Effective January 1, 2001, special risk membership also
165 includes a professional health care bargaining unit or non-unit
166 member who is employed by the Department of Corrections or the
167 Department of Children and Family Services
168 (f) The member must be employed in one of the following
169 classes and who spends must spend at least 75 percent of his or
170 her time performing duties that which involve contact with
171 patients or inmates in a correctional or forensic facility or
172 institution:
173 1. Dietitian (class codes 5203 and 5204);
174 2. Public health nutrition consultant (class code 5224);
175 3. Psychological specialist (class codes 5230 and 5231);
176 4. Psychologist (class code 5234);
177 5. Senior psychologist (class codes 5237 and 5238);
178 6. Regional mental health consultant (class code 5240);
179 7. Psychological Services Director—DCF (class code 5242);
180 8. Pharmacist (class codes 5245 and 5246);
181 9. Senior pharmacist (class codes 5248 and 5249);
182 10. Dentist (class code 5266);
183 11. Senior dentist (class code 5269);
184 12. Registered nurse (class codes 5290 and 5291);
185 13. Senior registered nurse (class codes 5292 and 5293);
186 14. Registered nurse specialist (class codes 5294 and
187 5295);
188 15. Clinical associate (class codes 5298 and 5299);
189 16. Advanced registered nurse practitioner (class codes
190 5297 and 5300);
191 17. Advanced registered nurse practitioner specialist
192 (class codes 5304 and 5305);
193 18. Registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5306 and
194 5307);
195 19. Senior registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5308
196 and 5309);
197 20. Registered nursing consultant (class codes 5312 and
198 5313);
199 21. Quality management program supervisor (class code
200 5314);
201 22. Executive nursing director (class codes 5320 and 5321);
202 23. Speech and hearing therapist (class code 5406); or
203 24. Pharmacy manager (class code 5251).;
204 (e) Effective July 1, 2001, special risk membership also
205 includes a youth custody officer who is employed by the
206 Department of Juvenile Justice and
207 (g) The member must be employed as a youth custody officer
208 and be certified, or required to be certified, in compliance
209 with s. 943.1395. In addition, the member’s primary duties and
210 responsibilities must be the supervised custody, surveillance,
211 control, investigation, apprehension, arrest, and counseling of
212 assigned juveniles within the community.;
213 (f)(h) Effective October 1, 2005, through June 30, 2008,
214 the member must be employed by a law enforcement agency or
215 medical examiner’s office in a forensic discipline recognized by
216 the International Association for Identification and must
217 qualify for active membership in the International Association
218 for Identification. The member’s primary duties and
219 responsibilities must include the collection, examination,
220 preservation, documentation, preparation, or analysis of
221 physical evidence or testimony, or both, or the member must be
222 the direct supervisor, quality management supervisor, or command
223 officer of one or more individuals with such responsibility.
224 Administrative support personnel, including, but not limited to,
225 those whose primary responsibilities are clerical or in
226 accounting, purchasing, legal, and personnel, are shall not be
227 included.;
228 (g)(i) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed
229 by the Department of Law Enforcement in the crime laboratory or
230 by the Division of State Fire Marshal in the forensic laboratory
231 in one of the following classes:
232 1. Forensic technologist (class code 8459);
233 2. Crime laboratory technician (class code 8461);
234 3. Crime laboratory analyst (class code 8463);
235 4. Senior crime laboratory analyst (class code 8464);
236 5. Crime laboratory analyst supervisor (class code 8466);
237 6. Forensic chief (class code 9602); or
238 7. Forensic services quality manager (class code 9603).;
239 (h)(j) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed
240 by a local government law enforcement agency or medical
241 examiner’s office and must spend at least 65 percent of his or
242 her time performing duties that involve the collection,
243 examination, preservation, documentation, preparation, or
244 analysis of human tissues or fluids or physical evidence having
245 potential biological, chemical, or radiological hazard or
246 contamination, or use chemicals, processes, or materials that
247 may have carcinogenic or health-damaging properties in the
248 analysis of such evidence, or the member must be the direct
249 supervisor of one or more individuals having such
250 responsibility. If a special risk member changes to another
251 position within the same agency, he or she must submit a
252 complete application as provided in paragraph (3)(a).;or
253 (i)(k) Effective August 1, 2009, the member must have
254 already qualified for and be actively participating in special
255 risk membership under paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph
256 (c), must have suffered a qualifying injury as defined in this
257 paragraph, must not be receiving disability retirement benefits
258 under as provided in s. 121.091(4), and must satisfy the
259 requirements of this paragraph.
260 1. The ability to qualify for the class of membership
261 defined in s. 121.021(15)(f) shall occur when Two licensed
262 medical physicians, one of whom is the member’s a primary
263 treating physician of the member, must certify the existence of
264 the physical injury and medical condition that constitute a
265 qualifying injury as defined in this paragraph and that the
266 member must have has reached maximum medical improvement after
267 August 1, 2008. The certifications from the licensed medical
268 physicians must include, at a minimum, that the injury to the
269 special risk member has resulted in a physical loss, or loss of
270 use, of at least two of the following: left arm, right arm, left
271 leg, or right leg; and that:
272 a. The That this physical loss or loss of use is total and
273 permanent, unless except in the event that the loss of use is
274 due to a physical injury to the member’s brain, in which event
275 the loss of use is permanent with at least 75-percent loss of
276 motor function with respect to each arm or leg affected.
277 b. The That this physical loss or loss of use renders the
278 member physically unable to perform the essential job functions
279 of his or her special risk position.
280 c. That, Notwithstanding the this physical loss or loss of
281 use, the individual is able to perform the essential job
282 functions required by the member’s new position, as provided in
283 subparagraph 3.
284 d. The That use of artificial limbs is either not possible
285 or does not alter the member’s ability to perform the essential
286 job functions of the member’s position.
287 e. That The physical loss or loss of use is a direct result
288 of a physical injury and not a result of any mental,
289 psychological, or emotional injury.
290 2. For the purposes of this paragraph, “qualifying injury”
291 means a physical an injury and medical condition sustained in
292 the line of duty, as certified by the member’s employing agency,
293 which by a special risk member that does not result in total and
294 permanent disability as defined in s. 121.091(4)(b). An injury
295 is a qualifying injury if when the injury is a physical injury
296 to the member’s physical body resulting in a physical loss, or
297 loss of use, of at least two of the following: left arm, right
298 arm, left leg, or right leg. Notwithstanding anything in this
299 section to the contrary, an injury that would otherwise qualify
300 as a qualifying injury is shall not be considered a qualifying
301 injury if and when the member ceases employment with the
302 employer for whom he or she was providing special risk services
303 on the date the injury occurred.
304 3. The new position, as described in sub-subparagraph 1.c.,
305 that is required for qualification as a special risk member
306 under this paragraph is not required to be a position that has
307 with essential job functions that entitle an individual to
308 special risk membership. Whether the a new position as described
309 in sub-subparagraph 1.c. exists and is available to the special
310 risk member is a decision to be made solely by the employer in
311 accordance with its hiring practices and applicable law.
312 4. This paragraph does not grant or create additional
313 rights for an any individual to continued employment or to be
314 hired or rehired by his or her employer that are not already
315 provided under state law within the Florida Statutes, the State
316 Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, if
317 applicable, or any other applicable state or federal law.
318 (j) Effective July 1, 2011, special risk membership also
319 includes a member who is employed by a public acute care
320 hospital that serves members of the public and serves as a
321 trauma center, and that provides treatment to members of the
322 public who have deadly or crippling infectious diseases, who are
323 accused of or convicted of serious violent crimes, who have been
324 subjected to hazardous materials or biological or chemical
325 agents as a result of terrorism or industrial accidents, or who
326 have diseases that require treatment interventions using
327 extremely toxic substances.
328 (4) REMOVAL OF SPECIAL RISK MEMBERSHIP.—
329 (b) Any member who is a special risk member on July 1,
330 2008, and who became eligible to participate under paragraph
331 (2)(f) (2)(h) but fails to meet the criteria for special risk
332 membership under established by paragraph (2)(g) (2)(i) or
333 paragraph (2)(h) (2)(j) shall have his or her special risk
334 designation removed and thereafter shall be a Regular Class
335 member and earn only Regular Class membership credit. The
336 department may review the special risk designation of members to
337 determine whether or not those members continue to meet the
338 criteria for special risk membership.
339 (7) RETENTION OF SPECIAL RISK NORMAL RETIREMENT DATE.—
340 (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection to the
341 contrary, This subsection does not apply to a any special risk
342 member who qualifies for continued membership under pursuant to
343 the provisions of paragraph (2)(i) (2)(k).
344 (9) CREDIT FOR UPGRADED SERVICE.—
345 (c) Any member of the Special Risk Class who has earned
346 creditable service in another membership class of the Florida
347 Retirement System in a position with the Department of Law
348 Enforcement or the Division of State Fire Marshal and became
349 covered by the Special Risk Class as described in paragraph
350 (2)(g) (2)(i), or with a local government law enforcement agency
351 or medical examiner’s office and became covered by the Special
352 Risk Class as described in paragraph (2)(h) (2)(j), which
353 service is within the purview of the Special Risk Class, and is
354 employed in such position on or after July 1, 2008, may purchase
355 additional retirement credit to upgrade such service to Special
356 Risk Class service, to the extent of the percentages of the
357 member’s average final compensation provided in s.
358 121.091(1)(a)2. The cost for such credit must shall be an amount
359 representing the actuarial accrued liability for the difference
360 in accrual value during the affected period of service. The cost
361 shall be calculated using the discount rate and other relevant
362 actuarial assumptions that were used to value the Florida
363 Retirement System defined benefit plan liabilities in the most
364 recent actuarial valuation. The Division of Retirement shall
365 ensure that the transfer sum is prepared using a formula and
366 methodology certified by an enrolled actuary. The cost must be
367 paid immediately upon notification by the division. The local
368 government employer may purchase the upgraded service credit on
369 behalf of the member if the member has been employed by that
370 employer for at least 3 years.
371 Section 3. The Legislature finds that a proper and
372 legitimate state interest is served when employees of public
373 acute care hospitals that serve members of the public who have
374 deadly or crippling infectious diseases, who are accused of or
375 convicted of serious violent crimes, who have been subjected to
376 hazardous materials or biological or chemical agents as a result
377 of terrorism or industrial accidents, or who have diseases that
378 require treatment interventions using extremely toxic substances
379 are classified as members of the special risk class of the
380 Florida Retirement System. These persons must be provided
381 benefits that are fair and adequate and that are managed,
382 administered, and funded in an actuarially sound manner as
383 required by s. 14, Article X of the State Constitution, and part
384 VII of chapter 112, Florida Statutes. Therefore, the Legislature
385 determines and declares that the amendments made by this act to
386 s. 121.0515, Florida Statutes, fulfill an important state
387 interest.
388 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.