Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §285, first ¶, as amended by PL 1989, c. 776, §1, is further amended to read:

A group health plan is available to state eligible employees, subject to the following provisions.

Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §285, sub-§1, ¶E-1 is enacted to read:

E-1.__Any career municipal firefighter.__For purposes of this paragraph, "career municipal firefighter" means a member of the fire service employed full-time by a municipal government in this State, including fire chiefs and other administrative officers;

Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §285, sub-§1-B, as amended by P&SL 1993, c. 67, §1, is further amended to read:

1-B. Ineligibility. Eligibility under this section shall may not be extended to include members of the Maine Municipal Association or the Maine Education Association or employees of counties and municipalities and instrumentalities thereof, including quasi-municipal corporations, except for career municipal firefighters eligible pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph E-1.

SUMMARY

This bill makes active and retired career municipal firefighters in the State eligible as a class of employees to participate in the state employee health insurance program.