Sponsors (3)
The bill gives targeted tax breaks and extends federal survivor benefits to encourage retired officers to serve as armed SROs and protect their families, at the cost of reduced federal revenues and payroll-tax contributions and with potential consequences for school climate and administrative complexity.
Retired law enforcement officers who take armed school resource officer (SRO) jobs will not owe federal income tax on that SRO compensation, and employers hiring them face lower payroll tax/withholding obligations.
Retired officers are more likely to be recruited or retained for SRO roles because of the financial incentives, which could increase the number of trained officers serving in schools.
Law enforcement officers serving as SROs (and their families) become eligible for federal public safety officers' death benefits, providing direct survivor payments and short-term economic stability after a line-of-duty death.
The combination of a tax exclusion for SRO pay and expanded survivor-benefit eligibility reduces federal revenues and increases federal spending, which could raise the deficit or require offsets from other programs.
Excluding SRO pay from payroll taxes reduces Social Security and Medicare contributions tied to that compensation, potentially lowering future benefits or trust fund receipts.
Making SROs eligible for federal survivor benefits may create incentives for some local governments to deploy more armed officers in schools, with potential negative effects on students' school climate and civil liberties.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Excludes pay for retired, armed school resource officers from federal gross income and employment wages, and adds school resource officers to federal public safety officers' death benefit coverage.
Introduced June 27, 2025 by Randy Weber · Last progress June 27, 2025
Creates a federal tax exclusion for pay received by retired peace officers who return to work as armed school resource officers, and makes school resource officers eligible for federal public safety officers’ death benefits. The bill treats such pay as excluded from gross income and from the wage base for federal employment taxes and withholding for services performed after enactment, and expands the statutory definition of covered public safety officers to include school resource officers.