Committee hears bipartisan fix to preserve survivorship benefits for children of fallen officers

Senator Laura Smith opened Senate Bill 208, characterizing it as a narrow statutory fix to ensure children of highway patrol officers, police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty do not lose survivorship benefits simply because they turn 18 while still enrolled in high school. "There's a gap," Smith said, explaining the current language can stop benefits when a dependent turns 18 even if they remain in secondary school.

Proponents from first-responder associations and retirement administrators told the committee the change corrects an apparent drafting oversight. Carter Marsh of Montana Professional Firefighters said the bill "could be the difference between keeping that child in school to complete their education" and dropping out to provide for themselves. William Hollahan, executive director of the Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration, provided operational context and counts: over the past 10 years his office saw a small number of cases where continuity of payment was an issue, and he described how the three affected public-safety retirement systems currently handle survivorship benefits.

Committee members asked how often the gap has occurred and whether other categories — such as EMS — should be added; Hollahan supplied instance counts for municipal police and highway patrol systems and said EMS typically participate in different retirement systems where optional beneficiary choices already exist. Sponsors and proponents characterized the bill as a narrowly targeted correction that preserves the intent of existing survivorship statutes.

The hearing closed with the sponsor asking for the committee’s consideration; the transcript records the hearing’s conclusion but does not show a final committee vote in this session.