Reschenthaler’s Public Safety Officer Support Act advances to Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) that would expand the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program (PSOB), which provides death, disability and education benefits to public safety officers and their survivors who are killed or injured in the line of duty.

The U.S. Senate on May 19 received the Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022, H.R. 6943, for consideration and referred the bill to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which is already reviewing the identical bill, S. 3635, introduced on Feb. 10 by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). 

“I am grateful for my colleagues’ strong bipartisan support in passing the Public Safety Officer Support Act,” said Rep. Reschenthaler in a May 19 statement. “I urge the Senate to pass this legislation to support the brave men and women who protect us.” 

The House on May 18 voted 402-17 to pass H.R. 6943, which Rep. Reschenthaler cosponsored alongside bill sponsor U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-MD) to extend death and disability benefits under the PSOB to certain public safety officers and survivors of public safety officers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or acute stress disorder following a stressful situation while on duty, according to the congressional record bill summary.

“Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians risk their lives every day to keep our families and communities safe, and that work does not come without sacrifice,” Rep. Reschenthaler said. “This legislation will ensure our first responders, and their families, are covered for the mental health conditions that can arise from such strenuous service.”

If enacted, H.R. 6943 would direct the PSOB to designate work-related PTSD and acute stress disorders as a line of duty injury for eligible officers, as well as those who are permanently disabled as a result of attempted suicide, according to a summary provided by the congressman’s staff, and would permit families of public safety officers who die by trauma-linked suicide to apply for death benefits by directing the PSOB to presume that suicides are a result of job duties in certain traumatic circumstances. 

The measure is supported by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Association of Police Organizations, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, the National Sheriffs Association, and the National Border Patrol Council, among others.