Rep. Cisneros Praises House Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Support Public Safety Officers on The Frontlines

Press Release

Today, Representative Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) praised the passage of the Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act of 2020. This bipartisan legislation would expand an existing federal program to ensure that public safety officers who contract COVID-19 in the line of duty are eligible for benefits should they become disabled or die from the virus. The bill passed by a voice vote.

"Every single day, our public safety officers risk their lives for the health and safety of our community. They deserve to have the benefits that will help them take care of themselves and their families," said Rep. Gil Cisneros. "In honor of our police officers, firefighters, and all our public safety officers, I'm proud to vote for the Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act. I'll keep fighting to ensure they and all our frontline workers have the hazard pay, testing, and resources they need to get through this pandemic."

The Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act of 2020 would:

Establish that a diagnosis for COVID-19 will be presumed to constitute a personal injury in the line of duty for the purposes of eligibility for the Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) program, unless the officer was not on duty in the relevant time period.
Establish the COVID-19-related disability standard be based on whether a PSOB claimant is permanently prevented from performing any gainful work as a public safety officer on account of their COVID-19 diagnosis.
Ensure that officers who were injured or disabled in the line of duty in relation to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and whose injuries--in combination with a line of duty COVID-19 illness--rendered them disabled or caused their death will receive benefits under the PSOB program.
Currently, public safety officers or their families are eligible to receive benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefit program, administered by the Department of Justice, upon death or disability caused by injury or illness sustained in the line of duty. The Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act of 2020 would expand the program to include COVID-19 as an eligible personal injury. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Chairman Nadler introduced and passed into law a bill to amend the PSOB to ensure those killed and injured on 9/11 were immediately eligible for the program.

On April 10th, Rep. Cisneros joined 160 bipartisan House members demanding presumption in the Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) program that a public safety officer's infection of COVID-19 resulted from their employment to clearly establish eligibility for death or disability benefits due to the pandemic.

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