Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1778
       
       
        
       By Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       
       39-01177-18                                           20181778__
    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 certain pilots and registered nurses to the
    5         class beginning on a specified date; providing a
    6         declaration of important state interest; providing an
    7         effective date.
    8          
    9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   10  
   11         Section 1. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2), subsection (3),
   12  and paragraph (d) of subsection (8) of section 121.0515, Florida
   13  Statutes, are amended to read:
   14         121.0515 Special Risk Class.—
   15         (2) MEMBERSHIP.—
   16         (h) Effective August 1, 2008, “special risk member”
   17  includes any member who meets the special criteria for continued
   18  membership set forth in paragraph (3)(k) (3)(j).
   19         (3) CRITERIA.—A member, to be designated as a special risk
   20  member, must meet the following criteria:
   21         (a) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed
   22  as a law enforcement officer and be certified, or required to be
   23  certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395, except that; however,
   24  sheriffs and elected police chiefs are not required to be
   25  certified excluded from meeting the certification requirements
   26  of this paragraph. In addition, the member’s duties and
   27  responsibilities must include the pursuit, apprehension, and
   28  arrest of law violators or suspected law violators; or as of
   29  July 1, 1982, the member must be an active member of a bomb
   30  disposal unit whose primary responsibility is the location,
   31  handling, and disposal of explosive devices; or the member must
   32  be the supervisor or command officer of a member or members who
   33  have such responsibilities. Administrative support personnel,
   34  including, but not limited to, those whose primary duties and
   35  responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and
   36  personnel, are not included;
   37         (b) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed
   38  as a firefighter and be certified, or required to be certified,
   39  in compliance with s. 633.408 and be employed solely within the
   40  fire department of a local government employer or an agency of
   41  state government with firefighting responsibilities. In
   42  addition, the member’s duties and responsibilities must include
   43  on-the-scene fighting of fires; as of October 1, 2001, fire
   44  prevention or firefighter training; as of October 1, 2001,
   45  direct supervision of firefighting units, fire prevention, or
   46  firefighter training; or as of July 1, 2001, aerial firefighting
   47  surveillance performed by fixed-wing aircraft pilots employed by
   48  the Florida Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and
   49  Consumer Services; or the member must be the supervisor or
   50  command officer of a member or members who have such
   51  responsibilities. Administrative support personnel, including,
   52  but not limited to, those whose primary duties and
   53  responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and
   54  personnel, are not included. All periods of creditable service
   55  in fire prevention or firefighter training, or as the supervisor
   56  or command officer of a member or members who have such
   57  responsibilities, and for which the employer paid the special
   58  risk contribution rate, are included;
   59         (c) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed
   60  as a correctional officer and be certified, or required to be
   61  certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395. In addition, the
   62  member’s primary duties and responsibilities must include be the
   63  custody, and physical restraint if when necessary, of prisoners
   64  or inmates within a prison, jail, or other criminal detention
   65  facility, or while on work detail outside the facility, or while
   66  being transported; or as of July 1, 1984, the member must be the
   67  supervisor or command officer of a member or members who have
   68  such responsibilities. Administrative support personnel,
   69  including, but not limited to, those whose primary duties and
   70  responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and
   71  personnel, are not included; however, wardens and assistant
   72  wardens, as defined by rule, are included;
   73         (d) Effective October 1, 1999, the member must be employed
   74  by a licensed Advance Life Support (ALS) or Basic Life Support
   75  (BLS) employer as an emergency medical technician or a paramedic
   76  and be certified in compliance with s. 401.27. In addition, the
   77  member’s primary duties and responsibilities must include on
   78  the-scene emergency medical care or as of October 1, 2001,
   79  direct supervision of emergency medical technicians or
   80  paramedics, or the member must be the supervisor or command
   81  officer of one or more members who have such responsibility.
   82  Administrative support personnel, including, but not limited to,
   83  those whose primary responsibilities are in accounting,
   84  purchasing, legal, and personnel, are not included;
   85         (e) Effective January 1, 2001, the member must be employed
   86  as a community-based correctional probation officer and be
   87  certified, or required to be certified, in compliance with s.
   88  943.1395. In addition, the member’s primary duties and
   89  responsibilities must be the supervised custody, surveillance,
   90  control, investigation, and counseling of assigned inmates,
   91  probationers, parolees, or community controllees within the
   92  community; or the member must be the supervisor of a member or
   93  members who have such responsibilities. Administrative support
   94  personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose primary
   95  duties and responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal
   96  services, and personnel management, are not included; however,
   97  probation and parole circuit and deputy circuit administrators
   98  are included;
   99         (f) Effective January 1, 2001, the member must be employed
  100  in one of the following classes and must spend at least 75
  101  percent of his or her time performing duties that which involve
  102  contact with patients or inmates in a correctional or forensic
  103  facility or institution:
  104         1. Dietitian (class codes 5203 and 5204);
  105         2. Public health nutrition consultant (class code 5224);
  106         3. Psychological specialist (class codes 5230 and 5231);
  107         4. Psychologist (class code 5234);
  108         5. Senior psychologist (class codes 5237 and 5238);
  109         6. Regional mental health consultant (class code 5240);
  110         7. Psychological Services Director—DCF (class code 5242);
  111         8. Pharmacist (class codes 5245 and 5246);
  112         9. Senior pharmacist (class codes 5248 and 5249);
  113         10. Dentist (class code 5266);
  114         11. Senior dentist (class code 5269);
  115         12. Registered nurse (class codes 5290 and 5291);
  116         13. Senior registered nurse (class codes 5292 and 5293);
  117         14. Registered nurse specialist (class codes 5294 and
  118  5295);
  119         15. Clinical associate (class codes 5298 and 5299);
  120         16. Advanced registered nurse practitioner (class codes
  121  5297 and 5300);
  122         17. Advanced registered nurse practitioner specialist
  123  (class codes 5304 and 5305);
  124         18. Registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5306 and
  125  5307);
  126         19. Senior registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5308
  127  and 5309);
  128         20. Registered nursing consultant (class codes 5312 and
  129  5313);
  130         21. Quality management program supervisor (class code
  131  5314);
  132         22. Executive nursing director (class codes 5320 and 5321);
  133         23. Speech and hearing therapist (class code 5406); or
  134         24. Pharmacy manager (class code 5251);
  135         (g) Effective October 1, 2005, through June 30, 2008, the
  136  member must be employed by a law enforcement agency or medical
  137  examiner’s office in a forensic discipline recognized by the
  138  International Association for Identification and must qualify
  139  for active membership in the International Association for
  140  Identification. The member’s primary duties and responsibilities
  141  must include the collection, examination, preservation,
  142  documentation, preparation, or analysis of physical evidence or
  143  testimony, or both, or the member must be the direct supervisor,
  144  quality management supervisor, or command officer of one or more
  145  individuals with such responsibility. Administrative support
  146  personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose primary
  147  responsibilities are clerical or in accounting, purchasing,
  148  legal, and personnel, are not included;
  149         (h) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed by
  150  the Department of Law Enforcement in the crime laboratory or by
  151  the Division of State Fire Marshal in the forensic laboratory in
  152  one of the following classes:
  153         1. Forensic technologist (class code 8459);
  154         2. Crime laboratory technician (class code 8461);
  155         3. Crime laboratory analyst (class code 8463);
  156         4. Senior crime laboratory analyst (class code 8464);
  157         5. Crime laboratory analyst supervisor (class code 8466);
  158         6. Forensic chief (class code 9602); or
  159         7. Forensic services quality manager (class code 9603);
  160         (i) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed by
  161  a local government law enforcement agency or medical examiner’s
  162  office and must spend at least 65 percent of his or her time
  163  performing duties that involve the collection, examination,
  164  preservation, documentation, preparation, or analysis of human
  165  tissues or fluids or physical evidence having potential
  166  biological, chemical, or radiological hazard or contamination,
  167  or use chemicals, processes, or materials that may have
  168  carcinogenic or health-damaging properties in the analysis of
  169  such evidence, or the member must be the direct supervisor of
  170  one or more individuals having such responsibility. If a special
  171  risk member changes to another position within the same agency,
  172  he or she must submit a complete application as provided in
  173  paragraph (4)(a);
  174         (j)Effective July 1, 2018, the member must be employed by
  175  a local government as a pilot or registered nurse and perform
  176  his or her primary duties and responsibilities on an air
  177  ambulance service as defined in s. 401.23, which is licensed
  178  pursuant to s. 401.251 and operated by the local government; or
  179         (k)(j) The member must have already qualified for and be
  180  actively participating in special risk membership under
  181  paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), must have
  182  suffered a qualifying injury as defined in this paragraph, must
  183  not be receiving disability retirement benefits as provided in
  184  s. 121.091(4), and must satisfy the requirements of this
  185  paragraph.
  186         1. The ability to qualify for the class of membership
  187  defined in paragraph (2)(h) occurs when two licensed medical
  188  physicians, one of whom is a primary treating physician of the
  189  member, certify the existence of the physical injury and medical
  190  condition that constitute a qualifying injury as defined in this
  191  paragraph and that the member has reached maximum medical
  192  improvement after August 1, 2008. The certifications from the
  193  licensed medical physicians must include, at a minimum, that the
  194  injury to the special risk member has resulted in a physical
  195  loss, or loss of use, of at least two of the following: left
  196  arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg; and that:
  197         a. The That this physical loss or loss of use is total and
  198  permanent, unless except if the loss of use is due to a physical
  199  injury to the member’s brain, in which event the loss of use is
  200  permanent with at least 75 percent loss of motor function with
  201  respect to each arm or leg affected.
  202         b. The That this physical loss or loss of use renders the
  203  member physically unable to perform the essential job functions
  204  of his or her special risk position.
  205         c. That, Notwithstanding this physical loss or loss of use,
  206  the individual can perform the essential job functions required
  207  by the member’s new position, as provided in subparagraph 3.
  208         d. That Use of artificial limbs is not possible or does not
  209  alter the member’s ability to perform the essential job
  210  functions of the member’s position.
  211         e. That The physical loss or loss of use is a direct result
  212  of a physical injury and not a result of any mental,
  213  psychological, or emotional injury.
  214         2. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “qualifying
  215  injury” means an injury sustained in the line of duty, as
  216  certified by the member’s employing agency, by a special risk
  217  member that does not result in total and permanent disability as
  218  defined in s. 121.091(4)(b). An injury is a qualifying injury if
  219  the injury is a physical injury to the member’s physical body
  220  resulting in a physical loss, or loss of use, of at least two of
  221  the following: left arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg.
  222  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an injury
  223  that would otherwise qualify as a qualifying injury is not
  224  considered a qualifying injury if and when the member ceases
  225  employment with the employer for whom he or she was providing
  226  special risk services on the date the injury occurred.
  227         3. The new position, as described in sub-subparagraph 1.c.,
  228  which that is required for qualification as a special risk
  229  member under this paragraph is not required to be a position
  230  with essential job functions that entitle an individual to
  231  special risk membership. Whether a new position as described in
  232  sub-subparagraph 1.c. exists and is available to the special
  233  risk member is a decision to be made solely by the employer in
  234  accordance with its hiring practices and applicable law.
  235         4. This paragraph does not grant or create additional
  236  rights for any individual to continued employment or to be hired
  237  or rehired by his or her employer which that are not already
  238  provided by state law within the Florida Statutes, the State
  239  Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, if
  240  applicable, or any other applicable state or federal law.
  241         (8) SPECIAL RISK ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CLASS.—
  242         (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection,
  243  this subsection does not apply to any special risk member who
  244  qualifies for continued membership pursuant to paragraph (3)(k)
  245  (3)(j).
  246         Section 2. The Legislature finds that a proper and
  247  legitimate state purpose is served when employees and retirees
  248  of the state and its political subdivisions, and the dependents,
  249  survivors, and beneficiaries of such employees and retirees, are
  250  extended the basic protections afforded by governmental
  251  retirement systems. These persons must be provided benefits that
  252  are fair and adequate and are managed, administered, and funded
  253  in an actuarially sound manner, as required by s. 14, Article X
  254  of the State Constitution and part VII of chapter 112, Florida
  255  Statutes. Therefore, the Legislature determines and declares
  256  that this act fulfills an important state interest.
  257         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.