Summary

Raises and modernizes federal death and funeral payments and clarifies tax treatment and eligibility. The bill sets a new federal death gratuity at $100,000 with annual CPI indexing, increases the maximum funeral expense payment to $8,800 with an annual adjustment, updates who may receive payments (including estate representatives when no survivors exist), and makes these payments excluded from gross income for tax purposes. It applies the new rules across several pay systems (including certain FAA, TSA, VHA, Foreign Service, and military death‑gratuity provisions). Provides a mechanism for agencies to request supplemental emergency appropriations when covered death‑related payments from an incident exceed available funds: agency heads, with OMB concurrence, may seek and obligate additional sums, and Congress is urged to act on such requests within 30 days.

Key Points

• Sets a new federal death gratuity base of $100,000 and requires annual CPI adjustments each March 1.
• Increases the maximum funeral expense payment from $800 to $8,800 and establishes an annual adjustment process.
• Specifies that death gratuities and funeral payments are excluded from recipients’ gross income for federal tax purposes.
• Clarifies eligibility, ordering of beneficiaries, and allows payment to an estate representative if no eligible survivors or designee exist.
• Applies amended rules across civilian federal pay systems, certain FAA/TSA/VHA personnel, Foreign Service beneficiaries, and aligns military death‑gratuity tax treatment.
• Requires agencies to issue updated guidance for overseas death payments and to implement the new payment rules.
• Allows agency heads (with OMB concurrence) to request supplemental emergency appropriations and obligate additional sums when incident‑related payments exceed available funds.
• Changes become effective for deaths on or after enactment and indexing begins the first March 1 after enactment.

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