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 8                       SECTION  24
 9
10     TO AMEND SECTION 42-7-65, AS AMENDED, OF THE 1976 CODE, RELATING TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND
11     THE DESIGNATED AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE FOR CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF EMPLOYEES, SO AS TO DELETE
12     CERTAIN PROVISIONS AND PROVIDE THAT VOLUNTARY FIREMEN OF ORGANIZED VOLUNTEER FIRE UNITS AND
13     MEMBERS OF ORGANIZED VOLUNTEER RESCUE SQUADS ARE COVERED UNDER TITLE 42 FOR WORKERS'
14     COMPENSATION BY THE COUNTY GOVERNING BODY UNLESS THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE COUNTY OPTS
15     OUT OF THIS COVERAGE.
16
17     A.  Section 42-7-65 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 259 of 1996, is further amended to read:
18
19           "Section 42-7-65. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 42-1-40, for the purpose of this title and while serving in this capacity,
20     the total average weekly wage of the following categories of employees is the following:
21           (1)  For all members of the State and National Guard, regardless of rank, seventy-five percent of the average weekly wage in the State
22     for the preceding fiscal year, or the average weekly wage the service member would be entitled to, if any, if injured while performing his
23     civilian employment, if the average weekly wage in his civilian employment is greater.
24           (2)  For all voluntary firemen of organized voluntary rural fire units and voluntary municipal firemen, thirty-seven and one-half percent
25     of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year.
26           (3)  For all members of organized volunteer rescue squads, thirty-seven and one-half percent of the average weekly wage in the State
27     for the preceding fiscal year.
28           (4)  For all volunteer deputy sheriffs, thirty-seven and one-half percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal
29     year.
30           The wages provided in items (2), (3), and (4) of this section may not be increased as a basis for any computation of benefits because
31     of employment other than as a volunteer. Persons in the categories provided by items (2), (3), and (4) must be notified of the limitation
32     on average weekly wages prescribed in this section by the authority responsible for obtaining coverage under this title.
33           Volunteer firemen and rescue squad members are construed to mean members of organized units whose membership is certified to
34     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
35     concerned. A volunteer deputy sheriff is a volunteer whose membership is certified by the sheriff to the governing body of the county.



       PART II                                                        PAGE 552

 1     No organized volunteer firemen, rescue squad members, or volunteer deputy sheriff may be included under the provisions of this title
 2     unless approved by the governing body of the county or municipality.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, voluntary firemen of
 3     organized volunteer fire units and members of organized volunteer rescue squads are covered under this title by the county governing body
 4     unless the governing body of the county opts out of the coverage.
 5           The average weekly wage for inmates of the State Department of Corrections as defined in Section 42-1-480 is forty dollars a week.
 6     The average weekly wage for county prisoners is forty dollars a week. The average weekly wage for students of high schools, state
 7     technical schools, and state-supported colleges and universities while engaged in work study, marketing education, or apprentice programs
 8     on the premises of private companies or while engaged in the Tech Prep or other structured school to work programs on the premises of
 9     a sponsoring employer is fifty percent of the average weekly wage in the State for the preceding fiscal year."
10
11     B.  This section takes effect July 1, 1998.
12