CRC - 2017                                                  P 16
       
       
        
       By Commissioner Gainey
       
       gaineye-00031-17                                        201716__
    1                        A proposal to create                       
    2         a new section in Article X of the State Constitution
    3         to establish the rights to certain death benefits to
    4         the survivors of specified first responders.
    5          
    6  Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of
    7  Florida:
    8  
    9         A new section is added to Article X of the State
   10  Constitution:
   11                              ARTICLE X                            
   12                            MISCELLANEOUS                          
   13         Death benefits for survivors of first responders.—
   14         (a) A death benefit shall be paid by the first responder’s
   15  employing agency when a firefighter; a paramedic; an emergency
   16  medical technician; or a law enforcement, correctional, or
   17  correctional probation officer, while engaged in the performance
   18  of their official duties, is:
   19         (1) Accidentally killed or receives accidental bodily
   20  injury which results in the loss of the individual’s life,
   21  provided that such killing is not the result of suicide and that
   22  such bodily injury is not intentionally self-inflicted; or
   23         (2) Unlawfully and intentionally killed or dies as a result
   24  of such unlawful and intentional act.
   25         (b) Payments authorized under subsection (a), regardless of
   26  whether secured by insurance, shall be made to the beneficiary
   27  that is designated by such first responder through a written
   28  designation signed by the first responder and delivered to the
   29  employing agency during the first responder’s lifetime. If no
   30  such designation is made, the payment shall be made to the first
   31  responder’s surviving child or children and spouse in equal
   32  portions, and if there is no surviving child or spouse, then to
   33  the first responder’s parent or parents. If a beneficiary is not
   34  designated and there is no surviving child, spouse, or parent,
   35  the payment shall be made to the first responder’s estate.
   36         (c) Payments that are made pursuant to subsections (a) and
   37  (b) are in addition to any workers’ compensation or pension
   38  benefits and are exempt from the claims and demands of creditors
   39  of the first responder.
   40         (d) If a firefighter; a paramedic; an emergency medical
   41  technician; or a law enforcement, correctional, or correctional
   42  probation officer is accidentally killed as specified in
   43  paragraph (a)(1), or unlawfully and intentionally killed as
   44  specified in paragraph (a)(2), the state shall waive certain
   45  educational expenses that the child or spouse of the deceased
   46  first responder incurs while obtaining a career certificate, an
   47  undergraduate education, or a postgraduate education. The amount
   48  waived by the state shall be an amount equal to the cost of
   49  tuition and matriculation and registration fees for a total of
   50  120 credit hours. The child or spouse may attend a state career
   51  center, a Florida College System institution, or a state
   52  university. The child or spouse may attend any or all of the
   53  institutions specified in this subsection, on either a full-time
   54  or part-time basis. The benefits provided to a child under this
   55  subsection continue until the child’s 25th birthday. The
   56  benefits provided to a spouse under this subsection must
   57  commence within 5 years after the death occurs, and entitlement
   58  thereto shall continue until the tenth anniversary of that
   59  death.
   60         (e) This section does not limit the legislature from
   61  enacting laws consistent with this section.
   62         (f) This amendment becomes effective upon approval by the
   63  electors.