Florida SB 474: Military Affairs

Bill Text

474 
Military Affairs 
2026-03-18T09:33:37Z 
Revising the authorization to be granted a leave of absence for military service to include the Coast Guard; clarifying a provision relating to leaves of absence for all officers and employees of the state and the counties, municipalities, and political subdivisions of the state for reserve or guard training; specifying that an authorization for a leave of absence for all employees of the state and the counties, municipalities, and political subdivisions of the state to perform active military service for a specified timeframe is based on a single order; revising the list of military positions required to participate in the Senior Management Service Class of the Florida Retirement System, etc. 
ENROLLED 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
er 

 ENROLLED 
 2026 Legislature CS for SB 474, 2nd Engrossed 

 2026474er 
 1 
 2 An act relating to military affairs; amending s. 
 3 115.01, F.S.; revising the authorization to be granted 
 4 a leave of absence for military service to include the 
 5 Coast Guard; removing the condition that such service 
 6 be during war between the United States and a foreign 
 7 government; amending s. 115.07, F.S.; clarifying a 
 8 provision relating to leaves of absence for all 
 9 officers and employees of the state and the counties, 
 10 municipalities, and political subdivisions of the 
 11 state for reserve or guard training; authorizing local 
 12 governments to provide additional paid leave for 
 13 officers and employees for reserve or guard training; 
 14 amending s. 115.08, F.S.; revising the definition of 
 15 the term “active military service”; amending s. 
 16 115.09, F.S.; specifying that an authorization for a 
 17 leave of absence for public officials to perform 
 18 active military service for a specified timeframe is 
 19 based on a single order; amending s. 115.14, F.S.; 
 20 specifying that an authorization for a leave of 
 21 absence for all employees of the state and the 
 22 counties, municipalities, and political subdivisions 
 23 of the state to perform active military service for a 
 24 specified timeframe is based on a single order; 
 25 amending s. 121.055, F.S.; revising the list of 
 26 military positions required to participate in the 
 27 Senior Management Service Class of the Florida 
 28 Retirement System; amending s. 250.10, F.S.; removing 
 29 a requirement that the Adjutant General administer 
 30 youth About Face Programs and adult Forward March 
 31 programs; removing provisions governing the programs; 
 32 amending s. 250.116, F.S.; revising eligibility for 
 33 the Soldiers and Airmen Assistance Program to include 
 34 traditional drilling guardsmen on state active duty or 
 35 on Title 32 United States Code duty and their eligible 
 36 beneficiaries demonstrating valid financial need; 
 37 defining the term “beneficiary”; requiring requests 
 38 for assistance to be reviewed, processed, and approved 
 39 by the Florida National Guard Foundation’s board of 
 40 directors; requiring requests for assistance to be 
 41 reviewed and evaluated based on specified criteria; 
 42 requiring an annual external audit of the program; 
 43 requiring the board to annually review the bylaws that 
 44 govern the program; requiring the board to provide a 
 45 report to the Department of Military Affairs to be 
 46 approved by the Adjutant General; reenacting s. 
 47 115.06, F.S., relating to reassumption of duties for 
 48 officers returning from the service of the United 
 49 States, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 
 50 115.01, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an 
 51 effective date. 
 52 
 53 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 54 
 55 Section 1. Section 115.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to 
 56 read: 
 57 115.01 Leave of absence for military service.—Any county or 
 58 state official of the state, subject to the provisions and 
 59 conditions hereinafter set forth, may be granted leave of 
 60 absence from his or her office, to serve in the volunteer forces 
 61 of the United States, or in the National Guard of any state, or 
 62 in the regular Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, 
 63 or Space Force of the United States, when the same shall be 
 64 called into active service of the United States during war 
 65 between the United States and a foreign government. 
 66 Section 2. Subsections (3) and (4) of section 115.07, 
 67 Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4) and (5), 
 68 respectively, subsections (1) and (2) are amended, and a new 
 69 subsection (3) is added to that section, to read: 
 70 115.07 Officers and employees’ leaves of absence for 
 71 reserve or guard training.— 
 72 (1) All officers or employees of the state, of the several 
 73 counties of the state, and of the municipalities or political 
 74 subdivisions of the state who are commissioned reserve officers 
 75 or reserve enlisted personnel in the United States