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S. 1042
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Knotts, Grooms, Hayes, Cromer, Thomas, Ford, Campbell, McGill and Setzler
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11984ac08.doc
Introduced in the Senate on January 30, 2008
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary
Summary: Volunteers
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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1/30/2008 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-7
1/30/2008 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-7
4/10/2008 Senate Referred to Subcommittee: Martin (ch), Hutto, Ritchie,
Lourie
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO AMEND SECTION 8-25-10, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF TERMS REGARDING PROVISIONS CONCERNING GOVERNMENT VOLUNTEERS, SO AS TO DEFINE "EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION VOLUNTEER"; TO AMEND SECTION 8-25-20, RELATING TO THE USE OF VOLUNTEERS BY STATE AGENCIES AND DEPARTMENTS, SO AS TO INCLUDE THE CATEGORY OF EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION VOLUNTEERS IN THE TYPES OF VOLUNTEERS STATE AGENCIES CAN USE; TO AMEND SECTION 8-25-40, RELATING TO BENEFITS PROVIDED TO VOLUNTEERS, INCLUDING MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT, MEAL ALLOWANCE, AND LIABILITY INSURANCE, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE STATE AGENCIES TO PROVIDE WORKERS' COMPENSATION FOR EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION VOLUNTEERS AND TO AUTHORIZE EACH AGENCY TO DESIGNATE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WILL TRIGGER WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE; TO AMEND SECTION 42-1-130, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF "EMPLOYEE" IN THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAW, SO AS TO ALSO INCLUDE EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION VOLUNTEERS IN THE DEFINITION OF THIS TERM; TO AMEND SECTION 42-7-65, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE FOR CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF EMPLOYEES, SO AS TO INCLUDE A CATEGORY FOR EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION VOLUNTEERS AND TO DESIGNATE THEIR AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE AS THIRTY-SEVEN AND ONE-HALF PERCENT OF THE AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE IN THE STATE FROM THE PRECEDING YEAR; AND TO AMEND SECTION 42-7-75, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT THAT ALL STATE AGENCIES PAY WORKERS' COMPENSATION PREMIUMS, SO AS TO PROVIDE PROCEDURES FOR CALCULATION OF PREMIUMS FOR AGENCIES THAT UTILIZE EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION VOLUNTEERS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 8-25-10 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately lettered item to read:
"(f) 'Emergency support function volunteer' means any regular-service or occasional-service volunteer appointed to assist a department with fulfilling its lead or support responsibilities under the State Emergency Operations Plan."
SECTION 2. Section 8-25-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 8-25-20. (A) Every department is authorized to develop volunteer programs and accept the services of volunteers, including regular-service volunteers, occasional-service volunteers, emergency support function volunteers, or material donors, to assist in programs carried out or administered by that department.
(B) Except as provided by law, volunteers recruited, trained, or accepted, or appointed by any department shall, to the extent of their voluntary service, be are exempt from all provisions of law relating to state employment, hours of work, rate of compensation, leave time, and employee benefits. Volunteers shall comply with applicable work rules.
(C) Every department using the services of volunteers is authorized to provide volunteers with such incidental reimbursements and as the department deems considers appropriate to assist volunteers in performing their duties."
SECTION 3. Section 8-25-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
Section 8-25-40. (a A) Transportation mileage reimbursement may be furnished those volunteers who use their personal vehicles to perform departmental tasks; provided, however, that mileage shall must not be furnished to the volunteers for driving to and from their volunteer work. A meal allowance may also be furnished to such volunteers making departmental trips at departmental request if the trip necessarily extends over an established meal period.
(bB) Liability insurance may be provided by the department utilizing their services both to regular-service, and occasional-service, and emergency support function volunteers to the same extent as may be provided by the department to its employees. Volunteers in state service shall enjoy have the protection of sovereign immunity of the State to the same extent as employees.
(c)(C) Workers' compensation coverage may be provided by the department to properly appointed emergency support function volunteers. Each department shall designate the circumstances that will trigger workers' compensation coverage in a written volunteer agreement and shall provide copies of that agreement to the State Fund or other compensation carrier. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, coverage of any and all activities related to responsibilities under the State Emergency Operations Plan, including training and exercises; coverage when the State Emergency Operations Plan is activated; or coverage when the Governor has declared a state of emergency or a public health emergency."
SECTION 4. Section 42-1-130 of the 1976 Code as last amended by Act 339 of 2002, is further amended to read:
"Section 42-1-130. The term 'employee' means every person engaged in an employment under any appointment, contract of hire, or apprenticeship, expressed or implied, oral or written, including aliens and also including minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed, but excludes a person whose employment is both casual and not in the course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of his employer; and as relating to those employed by the State, the term 'employee' includes all members of the South Carolina State and National Guard while performing duties in connection with the membership except duty performed pursuant to Title 10 and Title 32 of the United States Code; all volunteer state constables appointed pursuant to Section 23-1-60, while performing duties in connection with their appointments and authorized by the State Law Enforcement Division; all emergency support function volunteers, as defined in Section 8-25-10, to the extent that their appointing department has designated coverage for them; and all officers and employees of the State, except those elected by the people, or by the General Assembly, or appointed by the Governor, either with or without the confirmation of the Senate; and as relating to municipal corporations and political subdivisions of the State, the term 'employee' includes all officers and employees of municipal corporations and political subdivisions, except those elected by the people or elected by the council or other governing body of any municipal corporation or political subdivision, who act in purely administrative capacities and are to serve for a definite term of office. Any reference to an employee who has been injured or when the employee is dead, includes also his legal representative, dependents, and other persons to whom compensation may be payable.
Any sole proprietor or partner of a business whose employees are eligible for benefits under this title may elect to be included as employees under the workers' compensation coverage of the business if they are actively engaged in the operation of the business and if the insurer is notified of their election to be included. Any sole proprietor or partner, upon this election, is entitled to employee benefits and is subject to employee responsibilities prescribed in this title."
SECTION 5. Section 42-7-65 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 98 of 2005, is further amended to read:
"Section 42-7-65. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 42-1-40, for the purpose of this title and while serving in this capacity, the total average weekly wage of the following categories of employees is the following:
(1) for all members of the State and National Guard, regardless of rank, seventy-five percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year, or the average weekly wage the service member would be entitled to, if any, if injured while performing his civilian employment, if the average weekly wage in his civilian employment is greater;
(2) for all voluntary firemen of organized voluntary rural fire units and voluntary municipal firemen, thirty-seven and one-half percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year;
(3) for all members of organized volunteer rescue squads, thirty-seven and one-half percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year;
(4) for all volunteer deputy sheriffs, thirty-seven and one-half percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year; and
(5) for all volunteer state constables appointed pursuant to Section 23-1-60, while performing duties in connection with their appointments and authorized by the State Law Enforcement Division, thirty-seven and one-half percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year.; and
(6) for all emergency support function volunteers, as defined in Section 8-25-10, and who are designated by their appointing department for workers' compensation coverage, while performing duties in connection with their appointments and authorized by the appointing agency, thirty-seven and one-half percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year.
The wages provided in items (2), (3), (4), and (5) of this section may not be increased as a basis for any computation of benefits because of employment other than as a volunteer. Persons in the categories provided by items (2), (3), (4), and (5) must be notified of the limitation on average weekly wages prescribed in this section by the authority responsible for obtaining coverage under this title.
'Volunteer firemen' and 'rescue squad members' mean members of organized units whose membership is certified to the municipal clerk or chairman of the council of the municipality or county in which their unit is based by the chief officer of the unit concerned. A 'volunteer deputy sheriff' is a volunteer whose membership is certified by the sheriff to the governing body of the county. No volunteer deputy sheriff may be included under the provisions of this title unless approved by the governing body of the county or municipality. A voluntary constable appointed pursuant to Section 23-1-60 must be included under the provisions of this title only while performing duties in connection with his appointment and as authorized by the State Law Enforcement Division. The workers' compensation premiums for these constables must be paid from the state general fund upon warrant of the Chief of the State Law Enforcement Division. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, voluntary firemen of organized volunteer fire units and members of organized volunteer rescue squads are covered under this title by the county governing body unless the governing body of the county opts out of the coverage.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, emergency support function volunteers, as defined in and appointed under Section 8-25-10, et seq., are covered under this title, unless the agency or program which appoints them under the State Emergency Operations Plan opts out of the coverage by written notice to the State Accident Fund.
The average weekly wage for inmates of the State Department of Corrections, as defined in Section 42-1-480, is forty dollars a week. The average weekly wage for county and municipal prisoners is forty dollars a week. The average weekly wage for students of high schools, state technical schools, and state-supported colleges and universities while engaged in work study, marketing education, or apprentice programs on the premises of private companies or while engaged in the Tech Prep or other structured school-to-work programs on the premises of a sponsoring employer is fifty percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year."
SECTION 6. Section 42-7-75 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Section 42-7-75. (A) All state agencies shall pay workers' compensation premiums according to Section 42-7-70, as determined by the State Accident Fund. Calculation of premiums for the Adjutant General's Office must exclude losses arising out of service as a member of the South Carolina State and National Guard. In lieu of premiums for those losses the Adjutant General shall pay, at the beginning of each premium year, the amount estimated by the fund to be required to cover actual workers' compensation benefits to guard members during the premium year. If the amount actually paid as benefits differs from the estimated pay out advanced under this paragraph, the difference must be debited or credited to the Adjutant General's account in the same manner that an actual adjusted premium is handled.
(B)(1) Calculation of premiums for agencies which appoint emergency support function volunteers pursuant to Section 8-25-10, et seq., must exclude losses arising out of the services of emergency support function volunteers. In lieu of premiums for those losses the agency shall pay, at the beginning of each premium year, the amount estimated by the State Accident Fund to be required to cover actual workers' compensation benefits and costs for its emergency support function volunteers during the premium year. If the amount actually paid as benefits differs from the estimated pay out advanced under this subsection, the difference must be debited or credited to the agency's account in the same manner that an actual adjusted premium is handled.
(2) However, an agency that appoints emergency support function volunteers can opt out of the funding mechanism stated in subsection (B)(1) by notifying the State Accident Fund in writing that the premiums for its emergency support function volunteers, appointed pursuant to Section 8-25-10, et seq., will be calculated according to Section 42-7-70, as determined by the State Accident Fund.
(C) The State Treasurer and the Comptroller General shall pay from the general fund of the State to the State Accident Fund any necessary funds to cover actual benefit claims paid during any fiscal year, which exceed the amounts paid in for this purpose by the various agencies, departments, and institutions. The State Accident Fund shall certify quarterly to the State Budget and Control Board the state's liability for the benefit claims actually paid to claimants who are employees of any agency or political subdivision of this State and who are entitled to such payment under state law. The amount certified must be remitted to the State Accident Fund.
(D) If there are not sufficient funds in the State Accident Fund Trust Account to pay operating expenses and claims as they arise, the State Treasurer shall, from the general fund of the State, deposit in the account monthly sufficient funds to pay expenses and claims required by law to be paid, but the amount deposited may not exceed the amount of investment income which the account would have earned from its inception if all such earnings had been credited to the fund."
SECTION 7. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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