House Bill hb1249

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1249

        By Representative Littlefield






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act providing adoption benefits for

  3         employees of the state or water management

  4         districts; amending s. 110.152, F.S.;

  5         specifying employees who are entitled to

  6         receive such benefits for adopting a

  7         special-needs child; prescribing the manner of

  8         establishing the amount of such benefits;

  9         amending s. 110.15201, F.S.; providing that

10         rules for administering such adoption benefits

11         may provide for an application process;

12         providing an effective date.

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14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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16         Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 110.152, Florida

17  Statutes, is amended to read:

18         110.152  Adoption benefits for state or water

19  management district employees; parental leave.--

20         (1)(a)  Any full-time or part-time employee of the

21  state or of a water management district who is paid from

22  regular salary appropriations and who adopts a special-needs

23  child, as defined in paragraph (b), is eligible to receive a

24  monetary benefit in the amount of $10,000 per child, $5,000 of

25  which is payable in equal monthly installments over a 2-year

26  period. Any employee of the state or of a water management

27  district who adopts a child, other than a special-needs child

28  as defined in paragraph (b), shall be eligible to receive a

29  monetary benefit in the amount of $5,000 per child, $2,000 of

30  which is payable in equal monthly installments over a 2-year

31  period. Benefits paid under this subsection to a part-time

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1249

    731-120-01






  1  employee must be prorated based on the employee's

  2  full-time-equivalency status at the time of applying for the

  3  benefits.

  4         (b)  For purposes of this section, a "special-needs

  5  child" is a child whose permanent custody has been awarded to

  6  the Department of Children and Family Services or to a

  7  Florida-licensed child-placing agency and who is not likely to

  8  be adopted because he or she is:

  9         1.  Eight years of age or older.

10         2.  A person with a developmental disability.

11         3.  A person with a physical or emotional handicap.

12         4.  Of a minority race or of a racially mixed heritage.

13         5.  A member of a sibling group of any age, provided

14  that two or more members of a sibling group remain together

15  for the purposes of adoption.

16         Section 2.  Section 110.15201, Florida Statutes. is

17  amended to read:

18         110.15201  Adoption benefits for state or water

19  management district employees; rulemaking authority.--The

20  Department of Management Services may adopt rules to

21  administer the provisions of this act. Such rules may provide

22  for an application process such as, but not limited to, an

23  open-enrollment period during which employees may apply for

24  monetary benefits as provided in subsection (1).

25         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1249

    731-120-01






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  2                          SENATE SUMMARY

  3    Specifies employees of water management districts who are
      entitled to receive adoption benefits for adopting a
  4    special-needs child. Provides for a part-time employee of
      the state or of a water management district to receive
  5    benefits prorated on the basis of the employee's
      full-time-equivalency status. Provides that rules for
  6    administering such adoption benefits may provide for an
      application process.
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