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S1405.......................................by COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES
PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS - DEATH BENEFITS - Repeals and adds to existing law
to provide for a death benefit payable to spouses and dependent children of
certain public safety officers killed in the line of duty.
02/08 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/11 Rpt prt - to Com/HuRes
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1405
BY COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS; REPEALING SECTION 67-2028,
3 IDAHO CODE; AND AMENDING CHAPTER 13, TITLE 59, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION
4 OF A NEW SECTION 59-1361A, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR A DEATH BENEFIT PAY-
5 ABLE TO SPOUSES AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF CERTAIN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS
6 KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY, TO PROVIDE THAT APPLICATIONS FOR BENEFITS
7 SHALL BE MADE TO THE RETIREMENT BOARD, TO PROVIDE THAT BENEFITS SHALL BE
8 PAYABLE ONLY UPON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CERTAIN CONDITIONS, TO DEFINE
9 TERMS, TO PROVIDE THAT BENEFITS PAYABLE SHALL NOT BE DEPENDENT ON YEARS OF
10 SERVICE OR AGE AND TO PROVIDE THAT BENEFITS PAYABLE SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT
11 TO STATE INCOME TAXES.
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
13 SECTION 1. That Section 67-2028, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
14 repealed.
15 SECTION 2. That Chapter 13, Title 59, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
16 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-
17 ignated as Section 59-1361A, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
18 59-1361A. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS. (1) On and after July 1,
19 2002, in the event a public safety officer is killed in the performance of the
20 officer's duty, a death benefit in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars
21 ($100,000) shall be payable as provided in this section to the officer's sur-
22 viving spouse or, in the event there is no surviving spouse, divided among the
23 officer's dependent children. This benefit is separate from and will not
24 affect nor be affected by any other death benefit provided under this chapter
25 or under chapter 14, title 72, Idaho Code.
26 (2) Application for benefits under this chapter shall be made to the
27 retirement board. No benefit shall be payable unless it is established, as
28 determined by the retirement board, that:
29 (a) The officer's death occurred in the performance of the officer's
30 duties;
31 (b) The death was not caused by the intentional misconduct of the officer
32 or by such officer's intentional infliction of injury;
33 (c) The officer was not voluntarily intoxicated at the time of death; and
34 (d) Benefit payments will not be made to a person whose actions were a
35 substantial contributing factor to the death of the officer.
36 (3) For purposes of this section, "public safety officer" means a fire-
37 fighter, as defined in section 59-1302(16), Idaho Code, a paid firefighter, as
38 defined in section 72-1403(A), Idaho Code, or an active member of the retire-
39 ment system who has "police officer" status as provided under section 59-1303,
40 Idaho Code.
41 (4) For purposes of this section, a dependent child is a surviving natu-
42 ral or legally adopted child who is twenty (20) years of age or younger when
2
1 the officer dies. Benefits to dependent children shall be paid to the child's
2 legal guardian. When there are multiple dependent children, the benefit shall
3 be divided equally among them.
4 (5) Benefits payable under this section are not dependent on years of
5 service or age, and shall not be subject to state income taxes.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 11931
The Idaho Fallen Hero Act
This bill repeals section 67-2028, Idaho Code, which was added in
2001 by HE 246 to provide death benefits to survivors of police
officers who were killed in the line of duty, and replaces it with
a new section 59-13161A, Idaho Code, which provides similar
benefits not only to police officers, but to all public safety
officers as defined in PERSI law. It also includes the benefit
as a part of the retirement system, funded by plan employer and
employee contributions and earnings rather than through general
appropriations. This bill generally parallels the Public Safety
Officer Benefits found in the Federal Fallen Hero Act.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill eliminates expenditures of general funds for direct
payment of death benefits. The PERSI actuary estimates the increase
in the Police Officer Employer contribution rate of 0.06% of pay
(estimate $126,500 per yr.) and an increase of 0.04% of pay for
Police Officer Employee contribution rate (estimate $84,400 per yr.)
. Of the $126,500, it is estimated that a maximum of $44,200 per
year might be required from appropriated general fund monies.
Contact
Name: Senators Stegner, Cameron and Davis
Phone: 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1405