House bill would mandate career development for police, fire departments

A bill filed Friday in the Florida House would mandate police, correctional, and fire departments to have career development paths for employees.

House Bill 247, filed by first-term Palatka Republican Bobby Payne, would require that agencies offer these career development plans, but would also have those plans be “voluntary” for public safety employees.

The bill would also mandate pay raises for employees who hit achievement goals, though those goals are the choice of local agencies via a collectively bargained process.

Postsecondary education, advanced training, and other professional development tasks would be examples of those achievement goals.