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Adds Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees who are performing duties to protect the Nation’s transportation systems to the list of covered public safety officers eligible for the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) death benefit. The change is explicitly written into the statutory list of covered persons and applies to qualifying injuries that occurred on or after October 31, 2013. The amendment makes small textual edits to place the new TSA category in the existing list, and a separate clause clarifies the retroactive effective date for injuries of the newly covered TSA employees.
In subparagraph (F) of Section 1204(14) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284(14)), strike the word "or" at the end of the subparagraph.
In subparagraph (G) of Section 1204(14), strike the period at the end and insert "; and" (i.e., change the punctuation to continue the list).
Insert after subparagraph (G) a new subparagraph (H): "an employee of the Transportation Security Administration who is performing official duties of the Administration, if those official duties are related to protecting the Nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.." This adds TSA employees meeting that description to the text of Section 1204(14).
The Act and the amendments made by the Act apply with respect to an injury sustained by an individual described in subparagraph (H) of section 1204(14) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by this Act.
The applicability described in this section covers injuries sustained on or after October 31, 2013.
Who is affected and how:
TSA employees: Those who perform duties related to protecting the Nation’s transportation systems are directly added to the statutory list of public safety officers eligible for PSOB death benefits. That makes surviving family members (or other eligible claimants) eligible to apply for PSOB benefits for qualifying deaths or qualifying catastrophic injuries that occurred on or after October 31, 2013.
Families and survivors of covered TSA personnel: Families of TSA employees who died or were catastrophically injured in the line of duty on or after the specified date may be newly eligible to receive PSOB death benefits or have retroactive eligibility. This could provide financial assistance previously unavailable to them under PSOB rules.
PSOB program administrators and federal claims processors: Offices that adjudicate PSOB claims will need to revise guidance, forms, and processes to account for the new covered category and to determine eligibility for incidents dating back to October 31, 2013. That may increase workload due to new and retroactive claims and require legal/records reviews of older incidents.
Other public-safety communities and agencies: The amendment does not change benefits for other categories but narrows/clarifies statutory language; it may set a precedent for including additional federal security personnel in PSOB eligibility in future deliberations.
Budgetary/financial effects: The text itself does not appropriate funds or change benefit amounts; however, retroactive and new claims could increase PSOB payouts subject to existing program funding. Exact fiscal impact would depend on the number and timing of approved claims and is not specified in the text.
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Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced February 10, 2025 by Julia Brownley · Last progress February 10, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House