President Bush Signs Leahy Bill
To Expand Benefits
For Fallen Public Safety Officers

WASHINGTON (Tues., Dec. 16) – President Bush Tuesday signed into law a bill authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that closes a loophole in survivors’ benefits for the families of public safety officers who suffer fatal heart attacks and strokes in the line of duty. 

The “Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2003” (S. 459) covers public safety officers who die from heart attacks and strokes while engaged in non-routine, stressful physical activities on the job.  The bill makes their surviving family members eligible for the same benefits as those of officers killed through other means in the line of duty.  The current benefit for families of fallen officers is $267,494.

“This law is a fitting tribute to our fallen officers and their families,” said Leahy, who could not attend the ceremony because of a Vermont jobs tour that is still underway.  “Our public safety officers put their lives on the line for us, and we owe their families our gratitude, our respect and our help, particularly in their time of need.  No amount of money can fill the void that is left by these losses, but ending this disparity can help these families keep food on the table and shelter over their heads.”

Leahy’s bill, cosponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-Ga.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) and others passed the Senate last month.  Leahy also led negotiations with House leaders to reach agreement on a compromise version of his bill, which the House also approved last month.  Leahy is the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the PSOB program.

 A loophole in the Department of Justice’s Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) Program regulations did not allow the survivors of public safety officers – police officers, firefighters, medics and other emergency response personnel – who die of heart attacks and strokes resulting from their duty to receive survivor benefits.  The program was created 30 years ago to help the families of fallen public servants survive their losses.  The Fraternal Order of Police calls the Leahy bill “the most significant expansion of the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program in decades.”

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 31 firefighters died of heart attacks relating to their jobs in 2002.  The Officer Down Memorial Page estimates that heart attack and cardiac-related deaths account for an average of 13 police officer deaths each year.  Because of the current loophole in PSOB regulations, many of the families of these individuals would be denied federal survivor benefits without Leahy’s bill.

One Vermont family is all too familiar with the need for the bill. In January 1978, special Deputy Sheriff Bernard Demag of the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office suffered a fatal heart attack within two hours of his chase and apprehension of an escaped juvenile whom he had been transporting.  Deputy Sheriff Demag’s family, including Essex Police Chief Dave Demag, spent nearly two decades fighting in court for workers’ compensation death benefits to no avail.

“We should be treating surviving family members of all officers who die in the line of duty with decency and respect.  Heart attacks and strokes are a reality of the high-pressure jobs of police officers, firefighters and medics,” said Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the PSOB program. 

Leahy’s bill had been a high priority for several national organizations representing the nation’s first responders.  In addition to the Fraternal Order of Police, the list of first-responder organizations endorsing the bill also includes the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the National Association of Police Organizations, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Arson Investigators, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and the American Ambulance Association.

A former prosecutor, Leahy has long been an advocate for the law enforcement and public safety community.  In 2001, he included a provision in the USA PATRIOT Act anti-terrorism law that increased Public Safety Officer Benefits by $100,000.

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