Relating to the civil air patrol.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any employee of the state of Missouri who is or may become a member of the civil air patrol and has qualified for a civil air patrol emergency service specialty rating may be granted leave of absence from their respective duties, without loss of time, pay, regular leave, impairment of efficiency rating or of any other rights or benefits to which such person would otherwise be entitled, for periods during which such person is engaged in the performance of civil air patrol emergency service duty. Leave for such emergency service shall be for not more than fifteen working days in any state fiscal year, or without regard to length of time when responding to a state or nationally declared emergency or disaster in the state of Missouri. The employee shall be released from work upon request from the Missouri wing commander or the wing commander's designated representative. The appointing authority shall compensate an employee granted leave pursuant to this section at the employee's regular rate of pay for regular work hours during which the employee is absent from the employee's regular place of employment for the state of Missouri. Any leave granted pursuant to this section shall not affect the employee's leave status.

2. Before any payment of salary is made covering the period of the leave the employee shall file with the appointing authority or supervising agency evidence that such employee participated in emergency services duty from the wing commander, or the wing commander's designated representative.

3. No member of the civil air patrol shall be discharged from employment because of being a member of the civil air patrol or holding a civil air patrol emergency services specialty rating, nor otherwise discriminated against or dissuaded from joining or continuing such person's service in the civil air patrol by threat or injury to such person in respect to such person's employment.