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S1404.......................................by COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES
PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS - Amends existing law to provide for the payment of
death benefits to family members of firefighters, paramedics or emergency
medical technicians (public safety officers) who are killed in the
performance of their 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. 1404
BY COMMERCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO THE STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS; AMENDING SECTION 67-2028, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT OF DEATH BENEFITS TO FAMILY MEMBERS OF
4 IDAHO RESIDENTS WHO ARE PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS KILLED IN THE PERFORMANCE
5 OF DUTY, TO CLARIFY WHICH INJURIES ARE COVERED, TO REMOVE LANGUAGE PROVID-
6 ING FOR THE POSTPONEMENT OF PAYMENTS PENDING AN OFFICIAL REPORT, TO PRO-
7 VIDE REFERENCES TO "PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER," TO MAKE GRAMMATICAL CHANGES,
8 TO REMOVE LANGUAGE REFERRING TO CERTIFIED PEACE OFFICERS, TO REVISE LAN-
9 GUAGE PROVIDING FOR PAYMENTS TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN WHO ARE UNDER A CERTAIN
10 AGE, TO REMOVE A DATE REFERENCE, TO PROVIDE A CODE REFERENCE AND TO MAKE A
11 TECHNICAL CORRECTION.
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 amended to read as follows:
15 67-2028. LAW ENFORCEMENT PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS. (1) After
16 January 1, 2001, iIn the event a certified peace officer, detention officer,
17 or correctional officer, firefighter, paramedic or emergency medical techni-
18 cian (hereinafter referred to as "public safety officer") who is a resident of
19 the state of Idaho and in the employ of, or volunteering for, the state or a
20 political subdivision of the state is killed in the performance of the public
21 safety officer's duty, and whose injury resulting in the public safety
22 officer's death would be considered compensable under the provisions of chap-
23 ter 4, title 72, Idaho Code, the board of examiners shall authorize the pay-
24 ment of funds for the purpose of distributing a death benefit to the slain
25 deceased public safety officer's family. After the board of examiners is sat-
26 isfied that the circumstances of the death occurred in the performance of the
27 public safety officer's duty, it shall authorize the issuance of a deficiency
28 warrant. In the event that the board of examiners is uncertain as to the cir-
29 cumstances of the death, it may postpone the authorization of such payment
30 until the head of the responsible investigative agency provides an official
31 report of the incident. Upon authorization of the deficiency warrant by the
32 board of examiners, the state controller shall, after notice to the state
33 treasurer, draw a deficiency warrant in the authorized amount against the gen-
34 eral fund.
35 (2) The death benefit shall be distributed as follows:
36 (a) The total amount of a death benefit to be disbursed to a surviving
37 spouse, with or without dependent children, shall be one hundred thousand
38 dollars ($100,000).
39 (b) In the event there is no surviving spouse, the total amount of the
40 death benefit to be disbursed to the slain deceased public safety
41 officer's surviving dependent children who are under twenty-one (21) years
42 of age at the time of the officer's death is one hundred thousand dollars
43 ($100,000), to be split equally among the surviving natural and adopted
2
1 children of the slain deceased public safety officer. If a child is under
2 twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of the deceased public safety
3 officer's death, tThis disbursement shall be made to each dependent
4 child's legal guardian on behalf of the child.
5 (3) In the event there is neither a surviving spouse, nor surviving
6 dependent children under the age of twenty-one (21) years, the total amount to
7 be disbursed to the surviving parent or parents of the slain deceased public
8 safety officer shall be forty thousand dollars ($40,000), to be split equally
9 between the natural or adopted adoptive parents of the slain deceased public
10 safety officer.
11 (4) The death benefit provided in this section shall not be subject to
12 state income taxes, and shall not affect, nor be affected by, any death bene-
13 fit payments as may be provided under chapter 13, title 59, Idaho Code, or
14 chapter 4, title 72, Idaho Code.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 12005
This measure adds firefighters, emergency medical
technicians (EMT) and paramedics who are employed or volunteering
for the state or a political subdivision of the state, and are
residents of the state to the list of persons whose families
would be eligible for the death benefit if they were killed in
the line of duty. Further, it clarifies that the Industrial
Commission would determine eligibility as to who would qualify
under workers compensation. The language concerning which
children were eligible is also clarified.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact would be determined by the number of
dependents of public safety officers killed in the line of duty.
Total fiscal cost to date has been $140,000 paid to two (2)
dependents of officers slain in Jerome County. Current
statistical data reveals that a total of eight (8) public safety
officers have been killed in the last ten (10) years, two of
which were firefighters, one was a volunteer firefighter.
Contact
Name: Sen. Clint Stennett
Phone: 208/332-1351
Sen. Cecil Ingram
208/332-1351
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1404