CSHB 23(FIN) am: "An Act creating a fund in the Department of Public Safety; providing for payment of certain medical insurance premiums for surviving dependents of certain peace officers or firefighters who die in the line of duty; relating to contributions from permanent fund dividends to the peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 23(FIN) am 01 "An Act creating a fund in the Department of Public Safety; providing for payment of 02 certain medical insurance premiums for surviving dependents of certain peace officers 03 or firefighters who die in the line of duty; relating to contributions from permanent fund 04 dividends to the peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund; and providing for an 05 effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 39 is amended by adding a new chapter to read: 08 Chapter 60. Dependent Survivors of Peace Officers and Firefighters. 09 Sec. 39.60.005. Peace officer and firefighter survivors' medical insurance 10 premiums. The state and the municipalities shall pay medical insurance premiums for 11 the surviving dependents of peace officers and firefighters eligible under this chapter. 12 Sec. 39.60.010. Peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund established. (a) 13 The peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund is established in the general fund for
01 the purpose of paying medical insurance premiums for an eligible surviving spouse or 02 dependent child of a peace officer or a firefighter. The department may make premium 03 payments from the fund to the medical insurance provider for the former employer of 04 the deceased peace officer or firefighter. 05 (b) The fund consists of donations and other money appropriated to the fund. 06 (c) The legislature may appropriate money to the fund. Money in the fund 07 does not lapse. 08 (d) Money appropriated to the fund may be spent for purposes of the fund 09 without further appropriation. 10 (e) Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund. 11 Sec. 39.60.020. Powers and duties of the commissioner. (a) Annually, not 12 later than June 30, the commissioner shall determine the amount of money sufficient 13 to pay premiums under AS 39.60.030 and the associated administrative costs. 14 (b) The commissioner shall adopt regulations to implement this chapter. 15 Sec. 39.60.030. Payment authorized. The commissioner may use money in 16 the fund to pay medical insurance premiums for a surviving dependent of a state 17 employee who is eligible under AS 39.60.040, 50 percent of the premium for a 18 surviving dependent of an employee of a small municipality eligible under 19 AS 39.60.040, and the department's costs associated with administering the fund. 20 Sec. 39.60.040. Eligibility of surviving dependents of peace officers and 21 firefighters for medical insurance premiums. (a) A surviving dependent of a 22 deceased peace officer or firefighter may apply to the commissioner for payment of 23 medical insurance premiums for a surviving dependent under AS 39.60.030. Not later 24 than 30 days after receiving the application, the commissioner shall determine whether 25 the surviving dependent is eligible under (b) of this section. 26 (b) A person who is a surviving dependent of an employee who was a peace 27 officer or firefighter is eligible for premium payments under (a) of this section if 28 (1) at the time of death, the employee was a full-time employee of the 29 state or a municipality; 30 (2) at the time of death, the surviving dependent was receiving 31 employer-sponsored medical insurance benefits;
01 (3) the proximate cause of the employee's death is a bodily injury 02 sustained or a hazard undergone while in the performance and within the scope of the 03 employee's duties, as determined by the commissioner; and 04 (4) the injury or hazard is not the proximate result of wilful negligence 05 by the employee. 06 (c) A surviving spouse becomes ineligible for premium payments under this 07 section on the earlier of the date the surviving spouse 08 (1) becomes eligible to receive a major medical insurance coverage 09 benefit by other means; or 10 (2) is eligible for Medicare. 11 (d) Except for a child who is totally and permanently disabled, a child who 12 survives the employee becomes ineligible for premium payments under this section on 13 the earlier of the date the surviving dependent child 14 (1) becomes eligible to receive a major medical insurance coverage 15 benefit by other means; or 16 (2) reaches 26 years of age. 17 (e) The amount of a premium payable under this section must be based on the 18 level of medical insurance benefits the deceased employee was receiving at the time of 19 the employee's death. Payment of premiums shall be made to the applicable employer- 20 sponsored medical insurance provider as follows: 21 (1) the commissioner shall pay 22 (A) 100 percent for an eligible surviving dependent of a 23 deceased state employee; 24 (B) 50 percent for an eligible surviving dependent of a 25 deceased employee of a small municipality; 26 (2) a large municipality shall pay 100 percent for an eligible surviving 27 dependent of a deceased employee of that municipality; and 28 (3) A small municipality shall pay 50 percent for an eligible surviving 29 dependent of a deceased employee of that small municipality. 30 Sec. 39.60.190. Definitions. In this chapter, 31 (1) "child" means a biological child, adopted child, or stepchild of an
01 employee; 02 (2) "commissioner" means the commissioner of public safety or the 03 commissioner's designee; 04 (3) "department" means the Department of Public Safety; 05 (4) "dependent" means a surviving spouse or child of an employee; 06 (5) "firefighter" means an employee occupying a position as a 07 firefighter or fire chief; 08 (6) "fund" means the peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund 09 established in AS 39.60.010; 10 (7) "large municipality" means a municipality with a population of 11 10,000 or more according to the latest figures of the United States Bureau of the 12 Census; 13 (8) "peace officer" means an employee occupying a position as a peace 14 officer, chief of police, regional public safety officer, correctional officer, correctional 15 superintendent, or probation officer; 16 (9) "small municipality" means a municipality with a population of 17 less than 10,000 according to the latest figures of the United States Bureau of the 18 Census; 19 (10) "surviving spouse" means the spouse of an employee who was 20 married to an employee at the time of the employee's death. 21 * Sec. 2. AS 43.23.062(a) is amended to read: 22 (a) Notwithstanding AS 43.23.069, the Department of Revenue shall prepare 23 the electronic Alaska permanent fund dividend application to allow an applicant who 24 files electronically to direct that money be subtracted from the dividend payment and 25 contributed to the peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund or to one or more of 26 the educational organizations, community foundations, or charitable organizations that 27 appear on the contribution list contained in the application. A contribution to the 28 peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund or to an organization may be $25, $50, 29 $75, $100, or more, in increments of $50, up to the total amount of the permanent fund 30 dividend that the applicant is entitled to receive. If the total amount of contributions 31 elected by an applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the
01 applicant is entitled to receive, contributions shall be deducted from the dividend in 02 the order of priority elected by the applicant on the application until the entire amount 03 of the dividend that the applicant is entitled to receive is allocated for contribution. 04 The electronic dividend application form must include notice that seven percent of the 05 money contributed will be used for administrative costs incurred in implementing this 06 section, and money from the dividend fund will not be used for that purpose. 07 * Sec. 3. AS 43.23.062(b) is amended to read: 08 (b) The department shall list each educational organization, community 09 foundation, or charitable organization eligible under (c) and (d) of this section, [AND] 10 each university campus that applies under (l) of this section, and the peace officer 11 and firefighter survivors' fund on the contribution list. The department shall 12 maintain an electronic database for the contribution list that is accessible to the public 13 and that permits searches by organization or fund name, geographic location, and 14 type. The department shall provide a statement of the contributions made by an 15 individual that is suitable for federal income tax purposes to each individual who 16 elects to contribute under (a) of this section. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 43.23.062(m) is amended to read: 18 (m) In addition to the application fee in (f) of this section, the department shall 19 withhold a coordination fee from each organization, foundation, or university campus 20 that receives contributions under this section in the immediately preceding dividend 21 year. The coordination fee for an organization, foundation, or university campus that 22 receives contributions under this section shall be seven percent of the amount of 23 contributions reported by the department under (j) of this section for the organization, 24 foundation, or university campus for the immediately preceding dividend year. The 25 coordination fee shall be separately accounted for under AS 37.05.142 and shall be 26 accounted for separately from the application fee collected under (f) of this section. 27 The annual estimated balance in the account maintained under AS 37.05.142 for 28 coordination fees collected under this subsection may be appropriated for costs of 29 administering this section. The department may not withhold a coordination fee 30 for contributions to the peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund. 31 * Sec. 5. AS 43.23.062(n) is amended to read:
01 (n) In this section, 02 (1) "community foundation" means a nonprofit, autonomous, 03 philanthropic institution that is organized and operated primarily as a permanent 04 collection of endowed funds for the long-term benefit of a defined geographic area 05 within one or more municipalities, that has a long-term goal of increasing its 06 permanent unrestricted charitable endowment to benefit the area served, that primarily 07 provides benefits by making grants and may also provide other forms of charitable 08 services, that makes grants that are not limited to providing one type of benefit or to 09 serving one population segment, and that makes grants to multiple grantees; 10 (2) "peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund" has the meaning 11 given in AS 39.60.010(a). 12 * Sec. 6. AS 44.41.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 13 (g) The Department of Public Safety shall manage and administer the peace 14 officer and firefighter survivors' fund established in AS 39.60.010 in cooperation with 15 the Department of Administration. The Department of Public Safety shall establish 16 standardized procedures and forms for use in administering the peace officer and 17 firefighter survivors' fund. 18 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 19 read: 20 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The commissioner of public safety may adopt 21 regulations necessary to implement secs. 1 and 6 of this Act. The regulations take effect under 22 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of secs. 1 and 6 of 23 this Act. 24 * Sec. 8. Section 7 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 25 * Sec. 9. Except as provided in sec. 8 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2017.