May 21, 2020
Bipartisan Legislation Would Help Families of Officers and First Responders Lost to COVID-19 Receive Federal Benefits
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody today co-led a coalition of 52 Attorneys General urging Congress to pass S.3607, the Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act (SAFR Act). The SAFR Act would permit families of first responders who sustain a permanent disability or die as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19) to receive the same federal benefits extended to families of first responders who are otherwise killed or injured in the line of duty. Under current federal law, survivors only receive benefits if they can provide proof that the deceased or permanently disabled first responder contracted COVID-19 while on duty. These federal benefits are administered through the Department of Justice’s Public Safety Officers Benefits Program, which provides disability benefits to first responders or death and education benefits to their surviving families.
Content retrieved from: https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-leads-52-attorneys-general-urging.