Sponsors (4)
The bill substantially increases and clarifies death and funeral benefits and oversight for survivors of federal employees (including broadened coverage), at the cost of higher federal spending, potential payment delays or denials from administrative discretion, and added reporting and budgetary complexity.
Survivors of federal employees (including families) receive a much larger, one-time death gratuity ($100,000, indexed) that is automatically adjusted for inflation, giving families more predictable and substantial financial support after a line-of-duty death.
Survivors of federal employees get a greatly increased funeral payment (raised from $800 to $8,800) that will be adjusted annually for inflation, lowering immediate out-of-pocket funeral costs for families.
The bill clarifies beneficiary priority (designated beneficiary, spouse, children, parents, executor, state law) and allows payment to a personal representative when there are no eligible survivors, simplifying and speeding payment distribution to intended recipients.
Taxpayers and federal budgets will face higher costs because the bill raises one-time death and funeral payments and ties them to annual inflation adjustments, increasing long-term payout obligations.
Tying eligibility and benefit determinations to Labor Department/Secretary decisions and creating new adjudication standards (including for deaths abroad) could delay payments to survivors and create inconsistent coverage while claims are processed.
Beneficiaries may be denied payment or face disputes if deaths are found to involve willful misconduct, self-harm, intent to injure, or intoxication, producing potential hardship and litigation risk for families.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates an inflation‑adjusted federal death gratuity (starting at $100,000) for line‑of‑duty deaths, raises funeral pay to $8,800 with COLA, aligns Foreign Service rules, and adds reporting and emergency supplement authority.
Creates a new, inflation‑adjusted federal death gratuity of $100,000 (indexed annually) to be paid to eligible recipients when a federal employee dies from an on‑duty injury on or after enactment, raises the funeral expense payment to $8,800 (with annual adjustment), aligns Foreign Service death‑benefit rules and offsets, and adds emergency supplemental authority, reporting, and GAO audit requirements. Requires agencies to make payments from their salary-and-expenses appropriations (subject to exclusions for willful misconduct, intent to self‑injure or injure others, or intoxication), sets the order of precedence for beneficiaries, mandates timely GAO notification and audits, and provides rules for emergency supplemental appropriations if an agency cannot make payments because of a disaster or similar incident.
Introduced June 12, 2025 by John Karl Fetterman · Last progress June 12, 2025