Committee reviews bill to expand survivor benefit to law enforcement, corrections and DCF employees; treasurer flags funding needs

The Study Committee on Government Operations reviewed draft legislation on Feb. 27 that would extend a one-time state survivor payment now available to firefighters and emergency personnel to four additional categories of workers, including law enforcement officers and certain state social-service and corrections staff.

Sophie Sadat of the Office of Legislative Council summarized the proposal: "the bill proposes extending survivor benefits that are currently available to the survivors of firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and volunteer personnel killed in the line of duty ... to 4 new categories," she said, listing law enforcement officers; Department of Corrections facility employees and community-supervision security staff; classified Family Services Division employees at the Department for Children and Families; and classified employees of state-operated therapeutic community residences or inpatient psychiatric units.

Current program and payment: Under existing law, an Emergency Personnel Survivors Benefit Review Board may award a one-time payment (recently cited in committee as $80,000) to survivors; the Treasurer’s Office oversees the fund. Sophie Sadat told the committee the bill clarifies line-of-duty definitions for the newly included categories and adds a 72-hour rule used in some current definitions to cover deaths that occur shortly after a covered service event.

Funding and practical considerations: Ashlyn Doyon of the Treasurer’s Office told the committee the fund has been filled historically with one-time appropriations and that it had limited funds at the time of the meeting. "The legislature has to be committed to paying the benefits and replenishing the fund when there are applications," Doyon said, and she noted the Senate budget proposal included a $220,000 one-time deposit to cover pending applications and additional potential awards.

Committee members pressed for clarity on several operational points: how many additional people might be covered if the law is expanded (no reliable count was available in committee testimony), how the board would determine whether a death is "in the line of duty" (committee members asked whether events such as medical incidents or accidents within 72 hours of duty would qualify), and whether occupational illnesses are sufficiently documented for some categories (Treasurer’s Office staff urged precise statutory language to reduce discretionary, case-by-case determinations). Sophie Sadat said the bill adds specific line-of-duty language for law enforcement and for the three categories of state employees now proposed.

Several members also asked about overlaps with employee life insurance and with federal and other-state benefits. Committee discussion noted the federal Public Safety Officers' Benefits program (PSOB) and that other states provide larger one-time amounts for certain categories; committee members said the PSOB payment for eligible deaths through Oct. 1, 2024 was cited in testimony as $448,575, and committee recollections cited other states' one-time amounts in the low- to mid-hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Practical next steps: The Treasurer’s Office and legislative staff urged precise statutory definitions to limit discretionary decision-making by the review board, and offered to provide additional data on fund history, pending claims and the intersection between this program and employer-provided life insurance. Committee members said the bill may be refined and that testimony from stakeholders (family members, public-safety organizations or affected employee groups) could be scheduled.

Ending: Committee members agreed to follow up on the fiscal questions and statutory drafting and to consider related testimony when the bill is formally before the committee.