Senate committee OKs limited filing window for COVID-related line-of-duty indemnification in SB 56

The Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor voted to pass Senate Bill 56 on a motion by Senator Robertson with a second from Senator Kirkpatrick, approving a narrowly drawn measure that would allow certain public safety officers or their survivors to seek indemnification for COVID-19 diagnoses that occurred on or before April 15, 2022.

Senator Anna Vittardi, who presented the bill (LC 394428), said the measure grew out of a family’s effort after a sheriff’s deputy died during the pandemic and ‘‘identification benefits to the family were denied,’’ and that her office found other similar cases around the state. "This bill is supported by the firefighters association," Vittardi said, thanking staff and members who assisted in preparing the measure.

The bill as amended would make eligible those public safety officer cases diagnosed on or before April 15, 2022 — the date the state of emergency ended — and would create a short retroactive window for submitting claims if the bill becomes law. After legislative counsel advised the committee, members voted to delete a section that tied the measure’s effective date to the governor’s approval; that change makes the bill effective July 1, creating a filing window running from July 1 to Aug. 1 (a 30-day window the sponsor said could be shortened administratively).

Why it matters: Senator Vittardi and other members said the measure responds to denied claims from families who lost loved ones in what they and their counsel maintain were line-of-duty COVID-19 deaths. The committee discussion focused on…