Sponsors (4)
Creates a new, inflation‑adjusted federal "employee death gratuity" of $100,000 (indexed annually) paid when a covered Federal employee dies from an injury sustained in the line of duty, and raises the flat federal funeral expense payment from $800 to $8,800 (with annual adjustments). It revises existing death‑gratuity rules for service‑connected deaths, updates payment rules for personnel who die while serving abroad, and adds reporting, audit, and emergency funding procedures to support timely payments. Requires agencies to pay gratuities from their salaries‑and‑expenses accounts (or seek emergency appropriations if unable to pay), prevents certain offsets between overlapping federal gratuities, and directs the Government Accountability Office to receive timely notifications, produce annual aggregate reports, and complete an audit within three years.
Adds a new section 5571 to subchapter VII of title 5, U.S. Code, titled 'Employee death gratuity payments.' This establishes the statutory basis for the death gratuity.
Defines 'employee' for this section as an individual determined by the Secretary of Labor to be an employee within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 8101(1), excluding individuals described in subparagraph (D) of 5 U.S.C. 8101(1).
Specifies that only the Secretary of Labor may make the determination described in the employee definition.
Requires the head of the agency that employed the employee to pay a death gratuity from that agency’s salaries-and-expenses appropriations when the employee’s death results from an injury sustained in the line of duty, for deaths occurring on or after the date of enactment. The gratuity is in addition to any payment made under subchapter I of chapter 81 and is notwithstanding section 8116.
Specifies that no gratuity is payable under this section if the death was caused by willful misconduct of the employee, was caused by the employee’s intention to bring about the injury or death of the employee or another, or was proximately caused by the intoxication of the injured employee.
Last progress June 12, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 12, 2025 by John Karl Fetterman
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Primary beneficiaries are surviving family members and other designated beneficiaries of Federal employees who die from injuries sustained in the line of duty: they will receive larger and inflation‑protected payments (new $100,000 gratuity and higher funeral payment). Federal agencies will bear the immediate payment responsibility because agencies must use their salaries‑and‑expenses appropriations to make gratuity payments; that may create near‑term budget pressure for agencies with limited S&E balances, particularly after a catastrophic incident. The emergency funding mechanism allows agencies to seek supplemental appropriations when a disaster prevents timely payment, but agencies can only spend amounts Congress actually appropriates. The bill reduces the risk of overlapping payments by creating offset rules; it also broadens eligibility in some overseas/duty‑abroad cases (including specified unpaid mission supporters), which could extend benefits to additional categories of survivors. Reporting and audit requirements increase GAO oversight and transparency, which may improve accountability but adds administrative reporting work for agencies. Overall, the bill increases direct costs to the federal government over time (due to higher baseline payments and inflation adjustments) and shifts some administrative workload to agency payroll/benefits and OMB/GAO offices.