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CS/CS/CS/HB 1211 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to military affairs; amending s. 2
115.01, F.S.; revising the authorization to be granted 3
a leave of absence for military service to include the 4
Coast Guard; removing the condition that such service 5
be during war between the United States and a foreign 6
government; amending s. 115.07, F.S.; clarifying a 7
provision relating to leaves of absence for all 8
officers and employees of the state and the counties, 9
municipalities, and political subdivisions of the 10
state for reserve or guard training; authorizing local 11
governments to provide additional paid leave for 12
officers and employees for reserve or guard training; 13
amending s. 115.08, F.S.; revising the definition of 14
the term "active military service"; amending s. 15
115.09, F.S.; specifying that an authorization for a 16
leave of absence for public officials to perform 17
active military service for a specified timeframe is 18
based on a single order; amending s. 115.14, F.S.; 19
specifying that an authorization for a leave of 20
absence for all employees of the state and the 21
counties, municipalities, and political subdivisions 22
of the state to perform active military service for a 23
specified timeframe is based on a single order; 24
amending s. 121.055, F.S.; revising military positions 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
required to participate in the Senior Management 26
Service Class of the Florida Retirement System; 27
amending s. 250.10, F.S.; removing a requirement that 28
the Adjutant General administer youth About Face 29
Programs and adult Forward March programs; removing 30
provisions governing the programs; amending s. 31
250.116, F.S.; revising eligibility for the Soldiers 32
and Airmen Assistance Program to include traditional 33
drilling guardsmen on state active duty or on Title 32 34
United States Code duty and their eligible 35
beneficiaries demonstrating valid financial need; 36
defining the term "beneficiary"; requiring requests 37
for assistance to be reviewed, processed, and approved 38
by the Florida National Guard Foundation's board of 39
directors; requiring requests for assistance to be 40
reviewed and evaluated based on specified criteria; 41
requiring an annual external audit of the program; 42
requiring the board to annually review the bylaws that 43
govern the program; requiring the board to provide a 44
report to the Department of Military Affairs to be 45
approved by the Adjutant General; reenacting s. 46
115.06, F.S., relating to reassumption of duties for 47
officers returning from the service of the United 48
States, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 49
115.01, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
effective date. 51
52
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 53
54
Section 1. Section 115.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to 55
read: 56
115.01 Leave of absence for military service.—Any county 57
or state official of the state, subject to the provisions and 58
conditions hereinafter set forth, may be granted leave of 59
absence from his or her office, to serve in the volunteer forces 60
of the United States, or in the National Guard of any state, or 61
in the regular Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, 62
or Space Force of the United States, when the same shall be 63
called into active service of the United States during war 64
between the United States and a foreign government. 65
Section 2. Subsections (3) and (4) of section 115.07, 66
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4) and (5), 67
respectively, subsections (1) and (2) are amended, and a new 68
subsection (3) is added to that section, to read: 69
115.07 Officers and employees' leaves of absence for 70
reserve or guard training.— 71
(1) All officers or employees of the state, of the several 72
counties of the state, and of the municipalities or political 73
subdivisions of the state who are commissioned reserve officers 74
or reserve enlisted personnel in the United States military or 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
naval service or members of the National Guard are entitled to 76
leaves of absence from their respective duties, without loss of 77
vacation leave, pay, time, or efficiency rating, on all days 78
during which they are engaged in training ordered under the 79
provisions of the United States military or naval training 80
regulations or applicable general law for such personnel when 81
assigned to active or inactive duty. 82
(2) Leaves of absence granted as a matter of legal right 83
under the provisions of this section may not exceed 240 working 84
hours in any one annual period, except as provided in subsection 85
(3). Administrative leaves of absence for additional or longer 86
periods of time for assignment to duty functions of a military 87
character shall be without pay, except as provided in subsection 88
(3), and shall be granted by the employing or appointing 89
authority of any state, county, municipal, or political 90
subdivision employee and when so granted shall be without loss 91
of time or efficiency rating. 92
(3) A county, municipality, or other political subdivision 93
of the state may adopt an ordinance or resolution providing that 94
an employee who is a commissioned reserve officer or reserve 95
enlisted personnel in the United States military or naval 96
service or who is a member of the National Guard may receive 97
more than 240 working hours of paid leave from his or her 98
respective duties, without loss of vacation leave, pay, time, or 99
efficiency rating, on all days during which he or she is engaged 100
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in training ordered under the provisions of the United States 101
military or naval training regulations or applicable general law 102
for such personnel when assigned to active or inactive duty, 103
provided that no state funds are used for such supplemental 104
payments. 105
Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 115.08, Florida 106
Statutes, is amended to read: 107
115.08 Definitions.— 108
(1) The term "active military service" as used in this 109
chapter means shall signify active duty in the Florida defense 110
force or federal service in training or on active duty with any 111
branch of the Armed Forces or Reservists of the Armed Forces, 112
the Florida National Guard, the Coast Guard of the United 113
States, and service of all officers of the United States Public 114
Health Service detailed by proper authority for duty with the 115
Armed Forces, and includes shall include the period during which 116
a person in military service is absent from duty on account of 117
sickness, wounds, leave, or other lawful cause. 118
Section 4. Section 115.09, Florida Statutes, is amended to 119
read: 120
115.09 Leave to public officials for military service.—All 121
officials of the state, the several counties of the state, and 122
the municipalities or political subdivisions of the state, 123
including district school and Florida community College System 124
officers, which officials are also servicemembers in the 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
National Guard or a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the 126
United States, must be granted leave of absence from their 127
respective offices and duties to perform active military 128
service, with the first 30 days of any such leave of absence to 129
be with full pay for active federal military service that is 130
equal to or greater than 90 consecutive days on a single order. 131
Section 5. Section 115.14, Florida Statutes, is amended to 132
read: 133
115.14 Employees.—All employees of the state, the several 134
counties of the state, and the municipalities or political 135
subdivisions of the state must be granted leave of absence under 136
the terms of this law; upon such leave of absence being granted, 137
such employee must enjoy the same rights and privileges as are 138
granted to officials under this law, including, without 139
limitation, receiving full pay for the first 30 days for federal 140
military service that is equal to or greater than 90 consecutive 141
days on a single order. Notwithstanding s. 115.09, the employing 142
authority may supplement the military pay of its officials and 143
employees who are reservists called to active military service 144
after the first 30 days in an amount necessary to bring their 145
total salary, inclusive of their base military pay, to the level 146
earned at the time they were called to active military duty. The 147
employing authority shall continue to provide all health 148
insurance and other existing benefits to such officials and 149
employees as required by the Uniformed Services Employment and 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Reemployment Rights Act, chapter 43 of Title 38 U.S.C. 151
Section 6. Paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of section 152
121.055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 153
121.055 Senior Management Service Class.—There is hereby 154
established a separate class of membership within the Florida 155
Retirement System to be known as the "Senior Management Service 156
Class," which shall become effective February 1, 1987. 157
(1) 158
(g) Effective July 1, 1996, participation in the Senior 159
Management Service Class shall be compulsory for any member of 160
the Florida Retirement System employed with the Department of 161
Military Affairs in the uniformed positions of the Adjutant 162
General, Assistant Adjutant General-Army, Assistant Adjutant 163
General-Air, State Quartermaster, Director of Human Resources, 164
Director of Legislative Affairs, Inspector General, Executive 165
Officer, and additional directors as designated by the agency 166
head, not to exceed two Special Projects Officers of the Florida 167
National Guard a total of 10 positions. In lieu of participation 168
in the Senior Management Service Class, such members may 169
participate in the Senior Management Service Optional Annuity 170
Program as established in subsection (6). 171
Section 7. Paragraph (m) of subsection (2) of section 172
250.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 173
250.10 Appointment and duties of the Adjutant General.— 174
(2) The Adjutant General shall: 175
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(m) Subject to annual appropriations, administer youth 176
About Face programs and adult Forward March programs at sites to 177
be selected by the Adjutant General. Both programs must provide 178
schoolwork assistance, focusing on the skills needed to master 179
basic high school competencies and functional life skills, 180
including teaching students to work effectively in groups; 181
providing basic instruction in computer skills; teaching basic 182
problem-solving, decisionmaking, and reasoning skills; teaching 183
how the business world and free enterprise work through computer 184
simulations; and teaching home finance and budgeting and other 185
daily living skills. 186
1. About Face is a summer and year-round after-school 187
life-preparation program for economically disadvantaged and at-188
risk youths from 13 through 17 years of age. The program must 189
provide training in academic study skills, and the basic skills 190
that businesses require for employment consideration. 191
2. Forward March is a job-readiness program for 192
economically disadvantaged participants who are directed to 193
Forward March by the local workforce development boards. The 194
Forward March program shall provide training on topics that 195
directly relate to the skills required for real-world success. 196
The program shall emphasize functional life skills, computer 197
literacy, interpersonal relationships, critical-thinking skills, 198
business skills, preemployment and work maturity skills, job-199
search skills, exploring careers activities, how to be a 200
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successful and effective employee, and some job-specific skills. 201
The program also shall provide extensive opportunities for 202
participants to practice generic job skills in a supervised work 203
setting. Upon completion of the program, Forward March shall 204
return participants to the local workforce development boards 205
for placement in a job placement pool. 206
Section 8. Subsections (4), (5), and (6) of section 207
250.116, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (7) is 208
added to that section, to read: 209
250.116 Soldiers and Airmen Assistance Program.— 210
(4) ELIGIBILITY.—Persons eligible for assistance from the 211
program include: 212
(a) Servicemembers who are members of the Florida National 213
Guard who are: 214
1. traditional drilling guardsmen on state active duty or 215
on Title 32 United States Code duty, who otherwise do not 216
qualify for the assistance programs available to servicemembers 217
serving under Title 10 United States Code, and who demonstrate 218
valid financial need, and their eligible beneficiaries, are 219
authorized to apply for and receive financial assistance from 220
the program, as administered by the Florida National Guard 221
Foundation's board of directors and its governing bylaws, 222
contingent upon the availability of funds serving in the Global 223
War on Terrorism or Overseas Contingency Operation or who 224
request assistance within 120 days after the termination of 225
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
orders for such service and return to their home of record. 226
2. Deployed by the Federal Government and participating in 227
state operations for homeland defense or request assistance 228
within 120 days after the termination of orders for such service 229
and return to their home of record. 230
(b)1. As used in this subsection, the term "beneficiary" 231
means the current spouse, dependent children, or other 232
designated beneficiaries as designated in the servicemember's 233
service component records Beneficiaries of an eligible 234
servicemember designated on United States Department of Defense 235
Form 93. 236
2. Individuals demonstrating a financial need for 237
authorized assistance who are dependents or family members of an 238
eligible servicemember. 239
(5) REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE; REVIEW; AWARDS.— 240
(a) A request for assistance must shall be reviewed, and 241
processed, and approved by the Florida National Guard 242
Foundation's board of directors at the local level by an 243
official designated by the Adjutant General. During the initial 244
review and processing of the request, the Department of Military 245
Affairs may accept assistance from the direct-support 246
organization. Final review and approval of requests for 247
assistance shall be made by the Department of Military Affairs. 248
(b) Requests for assistance must shall be reviewed and 249
evaluated based on the following criteria: 250
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1. The impact of a servicemember's financial situation 251
absence and inability to provide quality of life and other 252
qualifying life-impacting assist in home and vehicle repairs or 253
meet other family needs; 254
2. The economic impact of deployment; 255
3. The overall financial situation of the applicant; 256
2.4. The assistance authorized under the program; and 257
3.5. Any other consideration dictated in the bylaws of the 258
Florida National Guard Foundation Other relevant information. 259
(6) QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REVIEW.—The financial committee of 260
the board of directors of the direct-support organization shall 261
review financial transactions of the program each quarter. The 262
board of directors must also ensure an annual external audit is 263
completed and published on the publicly available website of the 264
direct-support organization. This audit must review shall be 265
provided to the Department of Military Affairs in order to 266
determine whether the direct-support organization is being 267
operated in a manner that is consistent with the purposes of the 268
Soldiers and Airmen Assistance Fund, and in the best interests 269
of the department. The financial committee may request the 270
Office of Inspector General to conduct additional reviews. 271
(7) ANNUAL BYLAW REVIEW.—The Florida National Guard 272
Foundation's board of directors shall annually review the bylaws 273
that govern the program. This review shall be provided in a 274
report to the Department of Military Affairs and subject to 275
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approval by the Adjutant General. 276
Section 9. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 277
made by this act to section 115.01, Florida Statutes, in a 278
reference thereto, section 115.06, Florida Statutes, is 279
reenacted to read: 280
115.06 Reassumption of duties.—Upon being mustered out of 281
the service of the United States, such officer granted leave 282
under s. 115.01 shall immediately enter into the duties of his 283
or her office for the remainder of the term for which he or she 284
was elected. 285
Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 286