Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6509 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary AN ACT To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide public safety officer death and disability benefits for certain public safety officers who contract COVID-19, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.RFS H6509 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 6509 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Safety Officer 2 Pandemic Response Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEATH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR PUBLIC 4 SAFETY OFFICERS IMPACTED BY COVID-19. 5 Section 1201 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 6 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amended by 7 adding at the end the following new subsection: 8 ‘‘(o) For purposes of this part: 9 ‘‘(1) COVID–19 (or complications therefrom) 10 shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury 11 within the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in 12 the line of duty by a public safety officer and di- 13 rectly and proximately resulting in death, in the case 14 of a public safety officer who was diagnosed with, 15 who received a positive test for, or for whom evi- 16 dence indicated that the officer was infected with, 17 COVID–19, unless such officer was not on duty dur- 18 ing the 45-day period prior to being diagnosed with 19 or having positive test for COVID–19. 20 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall accept claims, 21 including supplemental claims, under this section 22 from an individual who— 23 ‘‘(A) was serving as a public safety officer 24 and was injured or disabled in the line of duty 25 as a result of the terrorist attacks on the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.RFS H6509 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 6509 RFS United States that occurred on September 11, 1 2001, or in the aftermath of such attacks devel- 2 oped a condition described in section 3312(a) of 3 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 4 300mm–22(a)); and 5 ‘‘(B) was diagnosed with COVID–19 dur- 6 ing the period described in paragraph (3), 7 which, in combination with the injury or dis- 8 ability described in subparagraph (A), perma- 9 nently and totally disabled or directly and 10 proximately resulted in the death of the indi- 11 vidual. 12 In assessing a claim under this paragraph, the pre- 13 sumption of causation described in paragraph (1) 14 shall apply. 15 ‘‘(3) The presumption described in paragraph 16 (1) and standard in subsection (p) shall apply with 17 respect to a diagnosis of COVID–19 (or complica- 18 tions therefrom) beginning on January 20, 2020, 19 and ending on January 20, 2022. 20 ‘‘(4) The term ‘COVID–19’ means a disease 21 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome 22 coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV–2). 23 ‘‘(p) In determining whether the personal injury 24 under subsection (b) resulting from COVID-19 (or com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.RFS H6509 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 6509 RFS plications therefrom) was a catastrophic injury, the Attor- 1 ney General’s inquiry shall apply the presumption in sub- 2 section (o) and be limited to whether the individual is per- 3 manently prevented from performing any gainful work as 4 a public safety officer.’’. 5 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 6 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 7 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 8 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 9 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ or this 10 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 11 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 12 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 13 vote on passage. 14 Passed the House of Representatives May 27, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.RFS H6509 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS