Bill broadens public safety officer protections amid COVID-19 pandemic

A group of lawmakers recently introduced a measure designed to expand assurances for public safety officers contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus and Fire Services Caucus, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) said the Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act of 2020 ensures public safety officers are eligible for benefits if disabled or die from the virus.

“America’s public safety officers are out on the frontlines of this pandemic keeping America up and running as best they can,” Pascrell, who officials recently led 160 bipartisan members seeking a presumption for first responders, said. “They are risking their lives to protect all of our communities from this virus. Thanks to Chairman Jerry Nadler and Rep. Max Rose, this critical legislation will make sure that if our heroes get sick from this terrible illness it will be presumed to be in the line of duty, and their families will not be left out in the cold.”

The lawmakers said the legislation would establish a diagnosis for COVID-19 would be presumed to constitute a personal injury in the line of duty for eligibility for the Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) program, unless the officer was not on duty in the relevant time period; establishes the COVID-19-related disability standard be based on whether a PSOB claimant is permanently prevented from performing any gainful work as a public safety officer on account of their COVID-19 diagnosis; and ensures officers who were injured or disabled in the line of duty in relation to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and whose injuries—in combination with a line of duty COVID-19 illness—rendered them disabled or caused their death will receive benefits under the PSOB program.