Bill Text: PA HB1938 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Further providing for death benefit eligibility; and repealing certain provisions of the Municipal Police Pension Law and the Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 25-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-09-11 - Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS [HB1938 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HB1938-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 2587
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1938 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY BOYLE, D. COSTA, BARBIN, BRENNAN, DeWEESE, FREEMAN, HARHAI, HOUGHTON, LEVDANSKY, McCALL, M. O'BRIEN, SOLOBAY, FARRY, KORTZ AND CARROLL, AUGUST 17, 2009
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, AUGUST 17, 2009
AN ACT
Amending the act of June 24, 1976 (P.L.424, No.101), entitled,
as amended, "An act providing for the payment of death
benefits to the surviving spouse or children or parents of
firefighters, ambulance service or rescue squad members, law
enforcement officers or National Guard members who die as a
result of the performance of their duties," further providing
for death benefit eligibility; and repealing certain
provisions of the Municipal Police Pension Law and the
Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 1 of the act of June 24, 1976 (P.L.424,
No.101), referred to as the Emergency and Law Enforcement
Personnel Death Benefits Act, amended April 2, 2002 (P.L.213,
No.20), October 6, 2005 (P.L.319, No.59) and July 2, 2007 (P.L.
68, No.21), is amended to read:
Section 1. (a) In the event a law enforcement officer,
ambulance service or rescue squad member, firefighter, certified
hazardous material response team member or National Guard member
dies as a result of the performance of his duties, such
political subdivision, Commonwealth agency or, in the case of
National Guard members, the Adjutant General, or, in the case of
a member of a Commonwealth law enforcement agency, the
authorized survivor or the agency head, within [30] 90 days from
the date of death, shall submit certification of such death to
the Commonwealth.
(a.1) A firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad
member, law enforcement officer, certified hazardous material
response team member or National Guard member who suffers a
fatal heart attack or stroke while on duty or not later than 24
hours after participating in a physical training exercise or
responding to an emergency is presumed to have died as a result
of the performance of his duties for purposes of this act.
(b) A volunteer firefighter shall be deemed to be acting in
the performance of his duties for the purposes of this act going
to or directly returning from a fire which the fire company or
fire department attended including travel from and direct return
to a firefighter's home, place of business or other place where
he or she shall have been when he or she received the call or
alarm or while participating in instruction fire drills in which
the fire department or fire company shall have participated or
while repairing or doing other work about or on the fire
apparatus or buildings and grounds of the fire company or fire
department upon the authorization of the chief of the fire
company or fire department or other person in charge or while
answering any emergency calls for any purpose or while riding
upon the fire apparatus which is owned or used by the fire
company or fire department or while performing any other duties
of such fire company or fire department as authorized by the
municipality or while performing duties imposed by section 15,
act of April 27, 1927 (P.L.465, No.299), referred to as the Fire
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and Panic Act.
(c) A volunteer ambulance service, certified hazardous
material response team or rescue squad member shall be deemed to
be acting in the performance of his duties for the purposes of
this act going to or directly returning from an emergency which
the ambulance service, certified hazardous material response
team or rescue squad attended including travel from and direct
return to an ambulance service, certified hazardous material
response team or rescue squad member's home, place of business
or other place where he or she shall have been when he or she
received the call or alarm or while participating in drills in
which the ambulance service, certified hazardous material
response team or rescue squad shall have participated or while
repairing or doing other work about or on any emergency vehicle
or buildings and grounds of the ambulance service, certified
hazardous material response team or rescue squad upon the
authorization of the chief of the ambulance service, certified
hazardous material response team or rescue squad or other person
in charge while answering any emergency calls for any purpose or
while riding upon any vehicles which are owned or used by the
ambulance service, certified hazardous material response team or
rescue squad.
(d) Upon receipt of such certification, the Commonwealth
shall, from moneys payable out of the General Fund, pay to the
[political subdivision] surviving spouse or, if there is no
surviving spouse, to the minor children of the paid firefighter,
ambulance service or rescue squad member or law enforcement
officer who died as a result of the performance of his duty the
sum of $100,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection (f) of
this section[. If the deceased was a member of a team organized
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under a Commonwealth agency, the death benefit shall be paid to
the Commonwealth agency instead of the political subdivision.
Within five days of receipt of said sum from the Commonwealth,
the political subdivision or Commonwealth agency shall pay such
sum as a benefit to the surviving spouse, or if there is no
surviving spouse, to the minor children of the firefighter,
ambulance service member, certified hazardous material response
team member, rescue squad member or law enforcement officer who
died as a result of the performance of his duty.], and an amount
equal to the monthly salary, adjusted in accordance with
subsection (f) of this section, of the deceased paid
firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member or law
enforcement officer, less any workers' compensation or pension
or retirement benefits paid to such survivors, and shall
continue such monthly payments until there is no eligible
beneficiary to receive them. For the purpose of this subsection,
the term "eligible beneficiary" means the surviving spouse or
the child or children under the age of eighteen years or, if
attending college, under the age of twenty-three years, of the
firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member or law
enforcement officer who died as a result of the performance of
his duty. When no spouse or minor children survive, [the
benefit] a single sum of $100,000, adjusted in accordance with
subsection (f) of this section, shall be paid to the parent or
parents of such firefighter, ambulance service member, certified
hazardous material response team member, rescue squad member or
law enforcement officer.
(e) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay out of the
General Fund to the surviving spouse or, if there is no
surviving spouse, the minor children of a National Guard member,
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[State police officer or other law enforcement officer of the
Commonwealth] volunteer firefighter, ambulance service or rescue
squad member who died as a result of the performance of his
duties the sum of $100,000, adjusted in accordance with
subsection (f) of this section. When no spouse or minor children
survive, the benefit shall be paid to the parent or parents of
such National Guard member, [State police officer or other law
enforcement officer of the Commonwealth] volunteer firefighter,
ambulance service or rescue squad member. The benefit shall be
payable whether or not the National Guard member or [officer]
volunteer firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member
died as a result of the performance of his duty within the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(f) On July 1, [2006] 2010, and each July 1 thereafter, the
Commonwealth shall adjust the level of the benefit payable
immediately before July 1 under subsections (d) and (e) of this
section to reflect the annual percentage change in the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers, published by the United
States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
occurring in the one-year period ending on January 1 immediately
preceding July 1.
(g) A National Guard member shall be deemed to be acting in
the performance of his duties for the purposes of this act when:
(1) his death occurs in an official duty status
authorized under 51 Pa.C.S. § 508 (relating to active State
duty for emergency); or
(2) going directly to or from the place of such duties.
Section 2. Repeals are as follows:
(1) The General Assembly declares that the repeals under
paragraph (2) are necessary to effectuate the amendment of
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section 1 of the act.
(2) The following parts of acts are repealed:
(i) Section 5(e)(2) of the act of May 29, 1956 (1955
P.L.1804, No.600), referred to as the Municipal Police
Pension Law.
(ii) Section 202(b)(3)(vi) and (4)(vi) of the act of
December 18, 1984 (P.L.1005, No.205), known as the
Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act.
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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