| HOUSE AMENDED |
| PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 368, 1197, 1450 | PRINTER'S NO. 1478 |
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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY LOGAN, TARTAGLIONE, KITCHEN, FONTANA, ERICKSON, ALLOWAY, RAFFERTY, BROWNE, WONDERLING, MUSTO, COSTA, PIPPY, FERLO, STACK, FARNESE, WARD, WASHINGTON AND ORIE, FEBRUARY 20, 2009 |
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| AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, OCTOBER 7, 2009 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Amending the act of June 24, 1976 (P.L.424, No.101), entitled, |
2 | as amended, "An act providing for the payment of death |
3 | benefits to the surviving spouse or children or parents of |
4 | firefighters, ambulance service or rescue squad members, law |
5 | enforcement officers or National Guard members who die as a |
6 | result of the performance of their duties," further providing |
7 | for death benefit eligibility; and repealing certain |
8 | provisions of the Municipal Police Pension Law and the |
9 | Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act. |
10 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
11 | hereby enacts as follows: |
12 | Section 1. Section 1 of the act of June 24, 1976 (P.L.424, |
13 | No.101), referred to as the Emergency and Law Enforcement |
14 | Personnel Death Benefits Act, amended April 2, 2002 (P.L.213, |
15 | No.20), October 6, 2005 (P.L.319, No.59) and July 2, 2007 (P.L. |
16 | 68, No.21), is amended to read: |
17 | Section 1. (a) In the event a law enforcement officer, |
18 | ambulance service or rescue squad member, firefighter, certified |
19 | hazardous material response team member or National Guard member |
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1 | dies as a result of the performance of his duties, such |
2 | political subdivision, Commonwealth agency or, in the case of |
3 | National Guard members, the Adjutant General, or, in the case of |
4 | a member of a Commonwealth law enforcement agency, the |
5 | authorized survivor or the agency head, within [30] 90 days from |
6 | the date of death, shall submit certification of such death to |
7 | the Commonwealth. |
8 | (a.1) A firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad |
9 | member, law enforcement officer, certified hazardous material |
10 | response team member or National Guard member who suffers a |
11 | fatal heart attack or stroke while on duty or not later than 24 |
12 | hours after participating in a physical training exercise or |
13 | responding to an emergency is presumed to have died as a result |
14 | of the performance of his duties for purposes of this act. |
15 | (b) A volunteer firefighter shall be deemed to be acting in |
16 | the performance of his duties for the purposes of this act going |
17 | to or directly returning from a fire which the fire company or |
18 | fire department attended including travel from and direct return |
19 | to a firefighter's home, place of business or other place where |
20 | he or she shall have been when he or she received the call or |
21 | alarm or while participating in instruction fire drills in which |
22 | the fire department or fire company shall have participated or |
23 | while repairing or doing other work about or on the fire |
24 | apparatus or buildings and grounds of the fire company or fire |
25 | department upon the authorization of the chief of the fire |
26 | company or fire department or other person in charge or while |
27 | answering any emergency calls for any purpose or while riding |
28 | upon the fire apparatus which is owned or used by the fire |
29 | company or fire department or while performing any other duties |
30 | of such fire company or fire department as authorized by the |
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1 | municipality or while performing duties imposed by section 15, |
2 | act of April 27, 1927 (P.L.465, No.299), referred to as the Fire |
3 | and Panic Act. |
4 | (c) A volunteer ambulance service, certified hazardous |
5 | material response team or rescue squad member shall be deemed to |
6 | be acting in the performance of his duties for the purposes of |
7 | this act going to or directly returning from an emergency which |
8 | the ambulance service, certified hazardous material response |
9 | team or rescue squad attended including travel from and direct |
10 | return to an ambulance service, certified hazardous material |
11 | response team or rescue squad member's home, place of business |
12 | or other place where he or she shall have been when he or she |
13 | received the call or alarm or while participating in drills in |
14 | which the ambulance service, certified hazardous material |
15 | response team or rescue squad shall have participated or while |
16 | repairing or doing other work about or on any emergency vehicle |
17 | or buildings and grounds of the ambulance service, certified |
18 | hazardous material response team or rescue squad upon the |
19 | authorization of the chief of the ambulance service, certified |
20 | hazardous material response team or rescue squad or other person |
21 | in charge while answering any emergency calls for any purpose or |
22 | while riding upon any vehicles which are owned or used by the |
23 | ambulance service, certified hazardous material response team or |
24 | rescue squad. |
25 | (d) Upon receipt of such certification, the Commonwealth |
26 | shall, from moneys payable out of the General Fund, pay to the |
27 | [political subdivision] surviving spouse or, if there is no |
28 | surviving spouse, to the minor children of the paid firefighter, |
29 | ambulance service or rescue squad member or law enforcement |
30 | officer who died as a result of the performance of his duty the |
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1 | sum of $100,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection (f) of |
2 | this section[. If the deceased was a member of a team organized |
3 | under a Commonwealth agency, the death benefit shall be paid to |
4 | the Commonwealth agency instead of the political subdivision. |
5 | Within five days of receipt of said sum from the Commonwealth, |
6 | the political subdivision or Commonwealth agency shall pay such |
7 | sum as a benefit to the surviving spouse, or if there is no |
8 | surviving spouse, to the minor children of the firefighter, |
9 | ambulance service member, certified hazardous material response |
10 | team member, rescue squad member or law enforcement officer who |
11 | died as a result of the performance of his duty.], and an amount |
12 | equal to the monthly salary, adjusted in accordance with |
13 | subsection (f) of this section, of the deceased paid |
14 | firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member or law |
15 | enforcement officer, less any workers' compensation or pension |
16 | or retirement benefits paid to such survivors, and shall |
17 | continue such monthly payments until there is no eligible |
18 | beneficiary to receive them. For the purpose of this subsection, |
19 | the term "eligible beneficiary" means the surviving spouse or |
20 | the child or children under the age of eighteen years or, if |
21 | attending college, under the age of twenty-three years, of the |
22 | firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member or law |
23 | enforcement officer who died as a result of the performance of |
24 | his duty. When no spouse or minor children survive, [the |
25 | benefit] a single sum of $100,000, adjusted in accordance with |
26 | subsection (f) of this section, shall be paid to the parent or |
27 | parents of such firefighter, ambulance service member, |
28 | [certified hazardous material response team member,] rescue | <-- |
29 | squad member or law enforcement officer. |
30 | (e) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay out of the |
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1 | General Fund to the surviving spouse or, if there is no |
2 | surviving spouse, the minor children of a National Guard member, |
3 | [State police officer or other law enforcement officer of the |
4 | Commonwealth] certified hazardous material response team member, | <-- |
5 | volunteer firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member |
6 | who died as a result of the performance of his duties the sum of |
7 | $100,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection (f) of this |
8 | section. When no spouse or minor children survive, the benefit |
9 | shall be paid to the parent or parents of such National Guard |
10 | member, [State police officer or other law enforcement officer |
11 | of the Commonwealth] certified hazardous material response team | <-- |
12 | member, volunteer firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad |
13 | member. The benefit shall be payable whether or not the National |
14 | Guard member or [officer] certified hazardous material response | <-- |
15 | team member, volunteer firefighter, ambulance service or rescue |
16 | squad member died as a result of the performance of his duty |
17 | within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. |
18 | (f) On July 1, 2006, and each July 1 thereafter, the |
19 | Commonwealth shall adjust the level of the benefit payable |
20 | immediately before July 1 under subsections (d) and (e) of this |
21 | section to reflect the annual percentage change in the Consumer |
22 | Price Index for All Urban Consumers, published by the United |
23 | States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics, |
24 | occurring in the one-year period ending on January 1 immediately |
25 | preceding July 1. |
26 | (g) A National Guard member shall be deemed to be acting in |
27 | the performance of his duties for the purposes of this act when: |
28 | (1) his death occurs in an official duty status |
29 | authorized under 51 Pa.C.S. § 508 (relating to active State |
30 | duty for emergency); or |
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1 | (2) going directly to or from the place of such duties. |
2 | Section 2. Repeals are as follows: |
3 | (1) The General Assembly declares that the repeals under |
4 | paragraph (2) are necessary to effectuate the amendment of |
5 | section 1 of the act. |
6 | (2) The following parts of acts are repealed: |
7 | (i) Section 5(e)(2) of the act of May 29, 1956 (1955 |
8 | P.L.1804, No.600), referred to as the Municipal Police |
9 | Pension Law. |
10 | (ii) Section 202(b)(3)(vi) and (4)(vi) of the act of |
11 | December 18, 1984 (P.L.1005, No.205), known as the |
12 | Municipal Pension Plan Funding Standard and Recovery Act. |
13 | Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately. |
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