Appropriations Committee advances bills on death benefits, childcare funding, transit review and WMATA grants

The Appropriations Committee met to consider multiple bills and voted to advance measures addressing law-enforcement death benefits, therapeutic childcare funding, transit governance studies and WMATA grant formulas.

The committee approved House Bill 76, described by the chair as “just a death benefit bill.” The bill, as presented, would require the state to pay public-safety death benefits to surviving family members of specified law-enforcement personnel who die by suicide under specified circumstances and—per an amendment that was adopted—removes language that would have created a separate line-of-duty disability benefit for officers and volunteer fire and rescue personnel diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or a related disorder. The amendments were adopted;…