Safety & Health

Trump Signs Bill to Pay Benefits for COVID-19 LODDs

Aug. 14, 2020

The new law doesn't require families firefighters, EMTs and police officers to prove that a first responder was infected on the job as long as the diagnosis is within 45 days of his or her last shift.

By Jonathan D. Salant

Source NJ Advance Media Group, Edison, N.J.

Firefighter/Paramedic William Fletcher (left) wears COVID-19 personal protective equipment and EMT Mya Jones wears basic level personal protective equipment during a press conference March 31 in the parking lot of Northwest Community Pool in St. Petersburg, FL. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, in partnership with Sunstar Paramedics, has developed a strategy to deploy COVID-19 Strike Teams.

Editor's note: Find Firehouse.com's complete coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation to automatically pay federal death benefits to the families of first responders who die of the coronavirus.

The measure was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. It unanimously passed the U.S. Senate in May and unanimously cleared the House in June.

RELATED:

The new law removes the requirement that families of police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians have to prove that the first responder was infected while on the job as long as the person was diagnosed with the coronavirus within 45 days of his or her last shift.

“As America grapples with COVID-19, our first responders are putting their lives on the line like never before,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist., who had sponsored similar legislation in the House. “Congress and the federal government must continue to support our first responders until this crisis is firmly behind us.”

The House also included the provision in its $3.4 stimulus package, which was not acted on in the Senate. White House officials and congressional Democrats are at odds over the size and scope of a new stimulus bill. Trump has signed a series of executive orders designed to provide some help.

Under the Public Safety Officers Benefits Program, the federal government pays death benefits to survivors of first responders who die in the line of duty or due to a work-related event. The Justice Department program also benefits to those permanently disabled due to their work.

———

Visit NJ Advance Media Group, Edison, N.J. at www.nj.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.