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House subcommittee advances bill to raise public-school indemnification payment to $150,000
Summary
The House Education Curriculum Subcommittee gave HB 105 a favorable recommendation to raise the public school personnel death benefit from $75,000 to $150,000 and sent the bill to full committee after supporters said existing indemnification funds can cover the increase without new appropriations.
Representative Wade presented House Bill 105 (LC481370EC), a proposal to increase the death benefit under the Georgia State Indemnification Fund for public school employees from $75,000 to $150,000.
Wade said the bill “recogniz[es] the sacrifice that some of our folks in public service” face and tied the measure to prior changes for public safety officers made under the 2017 Back the Badge Act, which raised that indemnification payment. He told the committee the change is meant to provide the same level of benefit to families of educators who die in the line of duty.
Margaret Ciccarelli of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) testified in support, saying PAGE represents about 93,000 educators and that this is the second time one of its members has died in the line of duty. She urged passage, saying the affected families “need the help that we can give them.”
Committee members asked whether the change would require additional appropriations. Autumn (identified in testimony as general counsel, Georgia Department of Administrative Services) told the committee the department’s existing indemnification fund has sufficient resources and staff do not anticipate a need for additional appropriations.
Vice Chairman Chokas moved the bill do pass; a second was recorded and the committee advanced HB 105 by voice vote to full committee. The subcommittee chair announced the bill will next go to the full committee for consideration.
The record shows two applications related to the triggering event are pending review; Representative Wade said the state has paid one prior indemnification in a public safety case and that the two pending applications would together represent approximately $300,000 if both were paid at the proposed level.
