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New Law To Provide Death Benefits For First Responders
April 19, 2016
A new law will help families of first responders who are enrolled in the Florida Retirement System and get killed in the line of duty.
The death-benefits bill was a priority of Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.
“When people give their lives in the service of our state, the least we can do is make sure we help provide for the families they leave behind,” Gardiner said in a prepared statement.
The law covers first responders killed since July 1, 2013.
Gardiner pushed for the bill in large part because of Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan “Scott” Pine, who in February 2014 was shot and killed while chasing a burglary suspect.
Pine, who had joined the sheriff’s office in 2011, was married and had three children. While enrolled in the retirement system’s 401(k)-style investment plan, Pine’s family was not eligible for survivor benefits beyond what was accrued during his three years of service, Gardiner noted.
“We do not want the spouses of Florida’s fallen heroes to struggle to meet the basic needs of their children,” Gardiner said in a prepared statement.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, and Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-North Fort Myers, ensures that survivors of first responders killed in the line of duty who were members of the investment plan are eligible for the same benefits as those enrolled in the state’s traditional pension plan.
It also provides for the lifetime of a beneficiary the full monthly salary of any “special risk” class member who had been enrolled in the state retirement system.
Special-risk members include law-enforcement officers, firefighters, correctional officers, emergency-medical technicians, paramedics, probation officers and other employees whose jobs may put them at risk.
“With recent world events, it’s more important now than ever to honor our brave men and women who put the safety of others above their own,” Scott said in a prepared statement.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
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