Safeguarding America's First Responders Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7031 To extend public safety officer death benefits to public safety officers whose death is caused by COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 27, 2020 Mr. JOYCE of Ohio (for himself, Ms. FUDGE, and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To extend public safety officer death benefits to public safety officers whose death is caused by 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguarding Amer- 4 ica’s First Responders Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSE. 6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 7 gress that— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7031.IH H7031 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7031 IH (1) an infectious disease pandemic known as 1 COVID–19 exists; 2 (2) to date, there is much still unknown about 3 COVID–19, but it is known that COVID–19 and re- 4 lated complications may be fatal; 5 (3) services provided by public safety officers 6 are nonetheless essential during this pandemic; 7 (4) due to the COVID–19 pandemic and what 8 is currently known about how the disease is spread, 9 public safety officers are uncharacteristically at risk 10 of contracting the disease; and 11 (5) although the Public Safety Officers’ Bene- 12 fits program currently covers deaths and permanent 13 and total disabilities resulting from infectious dis- 14 ease sustained by public safety officers in carrying 15 out their duties, the determination of claims involv- 16 ing personal injuries believed to have resulted from 17 COVID–19 or its complications may be uniquely 18 challenging or delayed given the lack of— 19 (A) definitive testing and medical records 20 at this time; and 21 (B) a definitive uniform body of medical 22 information about how the disease is spread or 23 its effects. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7031.IH H7031 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7031 IH (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab- 1 lish a carefully drawn framework wherein claims under the 2 Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program, arising under 3 the unique circumstances described in subsection (a), can 4 be processed expeditiously and under fair and clear stand- 5 ards. 6 SEC. 3. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER BENEFITS. 7 (a) DEATH BENEFITS.—As determined by the Bu- 8 reau of Justice Assistance, unless competent medical evi- 9 dence establishes that the death of a public safety officer 10 (as defined in section 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 11 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284)) 12 was directly and proximately caused by something other 13 than COVID–19, COVID–19 (or complications therefrom) 14 suffered by the public safety officer shall be presumed to 15 constitute a personal injury within the meaning of section 16 1201(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 17 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(a)), sustained in 18 the line of duty by the officer and directly and proximately 19 resulting in death, if— 20 (1) the officer engaged in a line of duty action 21 or activity between January 1, 2020, and December 22 31, 2021; 23 (2) the officer was diagnosed with COVID–19 24 (or evidence indicates that the officer had COVID– 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7031.IH H7031 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7031 IH 19) during the 45-day period beginning on the last 1 day of duty of the officer; and 2 (3) evidence indicates that the officer had 3 COVID–19 (or complications therefrom) at the time 4 of the officer’s death. 5 (b) DISABILITY BENEFITS.—As determined by the 6 Bureau of Justice Assistance, COVID–19 (or complica- 7 tions therefrom) suffered by a public safety officer shall 8 be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the 9 meaning of section 1201(b) of title I of the Omnibus 10 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 11 10281(b)), sustained in the line of duty by the officer, if— 12 (1) the officer engaged in a line of duty action 13 or activity between January 1, 2020, and December 14 31, 2021; and 15 (2) the officer was diagnosed with COVID–19 16 (or evidence indicates that the officer had COVID– 17 19) during the 45-day period beginning on the last 18 day of duty of the officer. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:02 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7031.IH H7031 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS