This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h0621z.LFS.DOCX
DATE: 5/12/2023
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF FINAL BILL ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/HB 621 Death Benefits for Active Duty Servicemembers
SPONSOR(S): State Affairs Committee, Barnaby, Maney, and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/SB 1094
FINAL HOUSE FLOOR ACTION: 108 Y’s
0 N’s GOVERNOR’S ACTION: Pending
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
CS/HB 621 passed the House on April 28, 2023, and subsequently passed the Senate on May 1, 2023.
The Florida Constitution requires the payment of death benefits to the survivors of active duty
servicemembers
of the United States Armed Forces. Servicemembers in the U.S. Armed Forces who are killed or receive a
bodily injury that results in the loss of their life while on active duty and engaged in the performance of their
official duties are eligible for a death benefit of $75,000. Servicemembers who are killed while on active duty,
but not in the context of their official duties, are eligible for a death benefit of $25,000. These benefits are paid
to a beneficiary who has been designated by the servicemember in writing to the Department of Military Affairs
(DMA). If a servicemember has not designated a beneficiary, the benefits are paid according to a priority order
set in statute.
The bill consolidates the death benefit for active duty servicemembers to provide a uniform death benefit of
$75,000. The bill revises the process for designating a beneficiary by allowing DMA to establish a process for
designation. The bill clarifies the mechanism by which the death benefit is paid by requiring DMA to request the
Chief Financial Officer to draw a warrant from the General Revenue Fund for payment of the benefit. The bill
requires DMA and the Department of Financial Services to adopt rules and procedures as appropriate and
necessary to implement the regulation and distribution of death benefits of active duty servicemembers.
The bill may have a negative, but likely insignificant, fiscal impact on state expenditures.
Subject to the Governor’s veto powers, the effective date of this bill is July 1, 2023.
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I. SUBSTANTIVE INFORMATION
A. EFFECT OF CHANGES:
Present Situation
Death Benefits for Active Duty Servicemembers – State Constitution
Article X, s. 31(b) of the Florida Constitution requires the payment of death benefits to the survivors of
active duty servicemembers of the United States Armed Forces. The benefit must be paid from the
General Revenue Fund when the member is:
Accidentally killed or receives accidental bodily injury that results in the loss of the member’s
life, so long as such death is not the result of suicide and such bodily injury is not intentionally
self-inflicted; or
Unlawfully and intentionally killed or dies as a result of such unlawful and intentional act or is
killed during active duty.
The Florida Constitution also requires the state to waive certain educational expenses that the child or
spouse of the deceased active duty servicemember of the U.S. Armed Forces incurs while obtaining a
career certificate, an undergraduate education, or a postgraduate education.
1
To be eligible for the benefits, a servicemember must have been a resident of Florida or his or her duty
post must have been within Florida at the time of death.
2
Death Benefits for Active Duty Servicemembers – Statutory
Current law provides that servicemembers of the U.S. Armed Forces who are killed or receive a bodily
injury that results in the loss of the member’s life while on active duty
3
and engaged in the performance
of their official duties are eligible for a death benefit of $75,000 paid by the state.
4
Servicemembers who
are killed while on active duty, but not in performance of their official duties, are eligible for a death
benefit of $25,000 paid by the state.
5
Servicemembers are not eligible for these benefits if the killing or
bodily injury is the result of suicide or was otherwise intentionally self-inflicted.
The death benefit is paid to the beneficiary designated by the servicemember in writing and delivered to
the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) during the servicemember’s lifetime.
6
If no designation is
made, then the payments are made to the servicemember’s surviving child or children and to the
servicemember’s surviving spouse in equal portions.
7
If the servicemember does not have a surviving
child or spouse, the payment is made to the servicemember’s parent or parents. If no designation is
made and the servicemember has no surviving child, spouse, or parent, then the sum must be paid to
the servicemember’s estate.
The spouse or child of an active duty servicemember is also eligible for the waiver of certain
educational expenses incurred while obtaining a career certificate, an undergraduate education, or a
1
Art. X, s. 31(c), Fla. Const.
2
Art. X, s. 31(d), Fla. Const.
3
Section 250.01(1), F.S., defines the term “active duty” to mean full-time duty in active military service of the United
States. The term includes federal duty such as full-time training, annual training, and attendance while a person is in
active military service or in a school designated as a service school by law or by the secretary of the applicable military
department. The term does not include full-time duty in the National Guard. The term also includes the period during
which a person in active military service is absent from duty because of illness, being wounded, being on leave, or other
lawful cause.
4
S. 295.061(2), F.S.
5
S. 295.061(3), F.S.
6
S. 295.061(4), F.S.
7
Id.
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postgraduate education.
8
The waiver amount is equal to the cost of 120 credit hours of tuition and
registration fees. The benefit must be used by a child before turning 25 years of age, while the spousal
benefit must be commenced within five years of the death and completed within 10 years of the death.
These benefits may only be received by students in good standing.
Effect of the Bill
The bill revises the death benefit for active duty servicemembers who are killed while on active duty to
provide a uniform death benefit of $75,000 paid by the state. The bill maintains current law providing
that a servicemember is not eligible for the benefit in the event of suicide or an otherwise intentionally
self-inflicted injury.
The bill provides that a servicemember may designate a beneficiary in a process set out by DMA. The
bill requires that proof of residency or duty post of the deceased servicemember at the time of the
member’s death must be provided to DMA, in a manner prescribed by the department, in order to
qualify for benefits.
The bill clarifies the payment process for the benefit by requiring DMA to request the Chief Financial
Officer to draw a warrant from the General Revenue Fund for the payment of benefit.
The bill requires DMA and the Department of Financial Services to adopt rules and procedures as
appropriate and necessary to implement the regulation and distribution of death benefits of active duty
servicemembers.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
The bill may have a negative, but likely insignificant, fiscal impact on state expenditures to the
extent servicemembers who are killed while on active duty outside of the performance of their
official duties will receive an increased death benefit.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
8
S. 295.061(8), F.S.
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None.