00 SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 5 01 "An Act relating to payment of health benefit premiums for a surviving spouse and 02 dependent child of certain peace officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty; and 03 providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 44.41.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 06 (g) The Department of Public Safety shall: manage and administer the line-of- 07 duty-death survivor health benefit fund established in AS 44.41.070. The Department 08 of Public Safety shall establish standardized procedures and forms for use in 09 administering the line-of-duty-death survivor health benefit fund. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 44.41 is amended by adding new sections to read: 11 Sec. 44.41.070. Line-of-duty-death survivor health benefit fund. (a) The 12 line-of-duty-death survivor health benefit fund is established as a separate fund in the 13 Department of Public Safety. The fund consists of appropriations made to the fund by 14 the legislature and donations made to the fund. Money appropriated to the fund does 01 not lapse. The Department of Public Safety may hold the principal and earnings of the 02 fund for the purpose of reimbursing the union health trust for the cost of health benefit 03 premiums for eligible survivors of peace officers and firefighters who die in the line of 04 duty. 05 (b) Upon application by a person claiming benefits under this section, the 06 commissioner of public safety shall determine if the applicant is a survivor eligible to 07 receive fund proceeds for health benefits. 08 (c) If eligibility is established, the first fund payment shall be made for the 09 month following the month in which the survivor applies for fund proceeds and 10 payment shall stop the month after eligibility ends under (e) of this section. 11 (d) Except as provided in (e) of this section, the following persons are eligible 12 for fund proceeds for health benefit coverage under this section: 13 (1) the surviving spouse of a deceased, state-employed peace officer or 14 firefighter who died in the line of duty; 15 (2) the dependent children of a deceased, state-employed peace officer 16 or firefighter who died in the line of duty. 17 (e) The commissioner of public safety may make expenditures from the fund 18 to reimburse the union health trust fund for eligible survivor health benefit premiums 19 until 20 (1) a surviving spouse becomes eligible to receive health or medical 21 benefits through employment or other means, or becomes eligible to receive system- 22 paid medical benefits through the public employee's retirement system (AS. 39.35), or 23 until the survivor reaches 65 years of age, whichever comes first; 24 (2) a dependent child becomes eligible to receive health or medical 25 benefits through employment or other means or reaches 26 years of age, whichever 26 comes first. 27 (f) The fund may be used to pay the management and administrative expenses 28 incurred by the Department of Public Safety in administering this section. 29 (g) Money appropriated to the fund may be spent for the purposes of the fund 30 without further appropriation. 31 (h) Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund. 01 (i) The Department of Public Safety may adopt regulations necessary to carry 02 out the provisions of this section. 03 (j) In this section, 04 (1) "died in the line of duty" has the meaning given to "line-of-duty- 05 death" in this section; 06 (2) "firefighter" means an airport police and fire officer or a deputy fire 07 marshal employed by the state; 08 (3) "fund" means the line-of-duty-death survivor health benefit fund; 09 (4) "line-of-duty-death" means the death of a peace officer or 10 firefighter employed by the state who died before the employee's retirement and 11 before the employee's normal retirement date, and the proximate cause of death is a 12 bodily injury sustained or a hazard undergone while in the performance and within the 13 scope of the employee's duties, and the injury or hazard is not the proximate result of a 14 wilful negligence of the employee; 15 (5) "peace officer" means a trooper, court service officer, or airport 16 police and fire officer employed by the state; 17 (6) "survivor" means the surviving spouse or dependent children of a 18 peace officer or firefighter who died in the line of duty; 19 (7) "union health trust" means the health trust maintained by the union 20 that formerly provided health benefits to the peace officer or firefighter who died in 21 the line of duty. 22 Sec. 44.41.072. Local government election to participate in line-of-duty- 23 death survivor health benefit fund. (a) The commissioner may, from time to time, 24 enter into an agreement under AS 44.41.076 to allow a municipality to participate in 25 the fund, if the municipality elects to participate. If a municipality elects to participate 26 in the fund, the commissioner shall determine the amount and frequency of 27 contributions the municipality is required to make to the fund based on the anticipated 28 cost of the municipality's participation, including the department's cost of 29 administering the agreement under this subsection. 30 (b) The commissioner shall administer agreements entered into under (a) of 31 this section. 01 (c) The surviving spouse or dependent child of a peace officer or firefighter 02 who died while employed by a municipality is not eligible for reimbursement under 03 the fund unless the municipality elects to participate in the fund and is in compliance 04 with an agreement entered into under (a) of this section. 05 Sec. 44.41.074. Eligibility of municipal peace officers and firefighters. (a) 06 Notwithstanding AS 44.41.072(c), the surviving spouse or dependent child of a peace 07 officer or firefighter who was employed by a municipality may be determined eligible 08 for reimbursement under the fund if, at the time of death, 09 (1) the municipality elected to participate in the fund and was in 10 compliance with the terms of an agreement entered into under AS 44.41.072(a); and 11 (2) the peace officer or firefighter was a member of the Public 12 Employees' Retirement System of Alaska (AS 39.35) and not eligible for normal 13 retirement from that system. 14 (b) The commissioner may determine that a surviving spouse or surviving 15 dependent child of a peace officer or firefighter employed by a municipality who 16 would otherwise be eligible for reimbursement under AS 44.41.072 is ineligible and 17 deny reimbursement until the commissioner determines all requirements of the 18 agreement are satisfied if a municipality enters into an agreement under 19 AS 44.41.072(a) and fails to meet a requirement of that agreement, including a 20 requirement under AS 44.41.076. 21 Sec. 44.41.076. Terms of agreement by municipality to participate in fund. 22 An agreement under AS 44.41.072(a) for a municipality to participate in the fund must 23 require that the municipality 24 (1) contribute to the fund as determined by the commissioner under 25 AS 44.41.072(a); 26 (2) is current with contributions required under this section; and 27 (3) complies with applicable regulations adopted by the commissioner. 28 Sec. 44.41.079. Definitions. In AS 44.41.070 - 44.41.079, 29 (1) "commissioner" means the commissioner of public safety or the 30 commissioner's designee; 31 (2) "department" means the Department of Public Safety; 01 (3) "dependent child" means an unmarried child of an employee, 02 including an adopted child, who is dependent on the employee for support and who is 03 either (A) under 19 years of age or (B) under 26 years of age and enrolled on a full- 04 time basis in an accredited educational or technical institution recognized by the 05 Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education; age restrictions under this paragraph 06 do not apply to a child who is totally and permanently disabled; 07 (4) "firefighter" means a person who is employed by the fire 08 department of a municipality that is bound by an agreement under AS 44.41.025(a); 09 (5) "fund" means the line-of-duty-death survivor health benefit fund 10 established in AS 44.41.070; 11 (6) "peace officer" means a person who is employed by the police 12 department of a municipality that is bound by an agreement under AS 44.41.072(a). 13 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 14 read: 15 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The commissioner of public safety may adopt 16 regulations necessary to implement secs. 1 and 2 of this Act. The regulations take effect under 17 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of secs. 1 and 2 of 18 this Act. 19 * Sec. 4. Section 3 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 20 * Sec. 5. Except as provided in sec. 4 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2017.