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A bill for an act
relating to public safety; expanding eligibility for survivor benefits; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections 299A.41, subdivisions 3, 4, by adding
subdivisions; 299A.45, subdivision 2; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 299A.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.41, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:
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Subd. 1a.
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Carcinogen.
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"Carcinogen" means an agent that is: (1) classified by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer under Group 1 or Group 2A; and (2) reasonably
linked to an exposure-related cancer.
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Sec. 2.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.41, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:
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Subd. 2a.
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Exposure-related cancer.
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"Exposure-related cancer" means only the following:
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(1) bladder cancer;
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(2) brain cancer;
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(3) breast cancer;
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(4) cervical cancer;
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(5) colon cancer;
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(6) colorectal cancer;
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(7) esophageal cancer;
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(8) kidney cancer;
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(9) leukemia;
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(10) lung cancer;
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(11) malignant melanoma;
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(12) mesothelioma;
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(13) multiple myeloma;
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(14) non-Hodgkin lymphoma;
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(15) ovarian cancer;
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(16) prostate cancer;
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(17) skin cancer;
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(18) stomach cancer;
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(19) testicular cancer; and
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(20) thyroid cancer.
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Sec. 3.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.41, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3.
Killed in the line of duty.
(a) "Killed in the line of duty" does not include
deaths from natural causes, except as
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expressly
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provided in this subdivision. In the case of
a public safety officer, killed in the line of duty includes the death of a public safety officer
caused by accidental means while the public safety officer is acting in the course and scope
of duties as a public safety officer. Killed in the line of duty also means if a public safety
officer dies as the direct and proximate result of a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture,
that officer shall be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a personal
injury sustained in the line of duty if:
(1) that officer, while on duty:
(i) engaged in a situation, and that engagement involved nonroutine stressful or strenuous
physical
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activity in
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law enforcement, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous material response,
emergency medical services, prison security, disaster relief, or other emergency response
activity; or
(ii) participated in a training exercise, and that participation involved nonroutine stressful
or strenuous physical activity;
(2) that officer died as a result of a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture suffered:
(i) while engaging or participating under clause (1);
(ii) while still on duty after engaging or participating under clause (1); or
(iii) not later than 24 hours after engaging or participating under clause (1); and
(3) the presumption is not overcome by competent medical evidence to the contrary.
(b)
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"
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Killed in the line of duty
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"
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also
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means that the officer
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includes a public safety officer
who
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died due to suicide:
(1) secondary to a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder as described in the most
recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by
the American Psychiatric Association; or
(2) within 45 days of the end of exposure, while on duty, to a traumatic event.
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(c) Killed in the line of duty also includes the death of a public safety officer as a result
of complications caused by exposure sustained in the line of duty to any of the following
infectious diseases, viruses, or bacteria, if medical records identify the disease, virus, or
bacteria as a cause of or contributing factor to the death: COVID-19, influenza, hepatitis
B, hepatitis C, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, meningitis, MRSA, whooping cough, or
streptococcus pneumoniae.
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(d) Killed in the line of duty also means a public safety officer shall be presumed to have
been killed in the line of duty if the officer died from an exposure-related cancer that was
a result of exposure to a carcinogen when:
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(1) the exposure occurred while the public safety officer was acting in the course and
scope of duties as a public safety officer;
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(2) the public safety officer began serving as a public safety officer not less than five
years before the date of the public safety officer's diagnosis of exposure-related cancer;
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(3) the public safety officer was diagnosed with exposure-related cancer not more than
15 years after the public safety officer's last date of active service as a public safety officer;
and
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(4) the exposure-related cancer directly and proximately results in the death of the public
safety officer.
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(e) The presumption under paragraph (d) does not apply if competent medical evidence
establishes that the exposure of the public safety officer to the carcinogen was not a
substantial contributing factor in the death of the public safety officer.
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EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
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This section is effective the day following
final enactment and applies retroactively from February 1, 2020.
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Sec. 4.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.41, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:
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Subd. 3a.
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Nonroutine strenuous physical activity.
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"Nonroutine strenuous physical
activity" means line of duty activity that:
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(1) is not an action of a clerical, administrative, or nonmanual nature;
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(2) is not performed as a matter of routine; and
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(3) entails an unusually high level of physical exertion.
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EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
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This section is effective the day following
final enactment and applies retroactively from February 1, 2020.
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Sec. 5.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.41, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:
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Subd. 3b.
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Nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity.
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"Nonroutine stressful
or strenuous physical activity" means nonroutine stressful physical activity or nonroutine
strenuous physical activity.
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EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
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This section is effective the day following
final enactment and applies retroactively from February 1, 2020.
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Sec. 6.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.41, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:
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Subd. 3c.
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Nonroutine stressful physical activity.
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"Nonroutine stressful physical activity"
means line of duty activity that:
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(1) is not an action of a clerical, administrative, or nonmanual nature;
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(2) is not performed as a matter of routine;
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(3) entails nonnegligible physical exertion; and
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(4) occurs:
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(i) with respect to a situation in which a public safety officer is engaged under
circumstances that objectively and reasonably:
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(A) pose or appear to pose significant dangers, threats, or hazards, or reasonably
foreseeable risks thereof, not faced by similarly situated members of the public in the
ordinary course; and
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(B) provoke, cause, or occasion an unusually high level of alarm, fear, or anxiety; or
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(ii) with respect to a training exercise in which a public safety officer participates under
circumstances that objectively and reasonably:
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(A) simulate in realistic fashion situations that pose significant dangers, threats, or
hazards; and
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(B) provoke, cause, or occasion an unusually high level of alarm, fear, or anxiety.
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EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
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This section is effective the day following
final enactment and applies retroactively from February 1, 2020.
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Sec. 7.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.41, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4.
Public safety officer.
"Public safety officer" includes:
(1) a peace officer defined in section
626.84, subdivision 1
, paragraph (c) or (d);
(2) a correction officer employed at a correctional facility and charged with maintaining
the safety, security, discipline, and custody of inmates at the facility;
(3) a corrections staff person working in a public agency and supervising offenders in
the community as defined in sections
243.05, subdivision 6
;
244.19, subdivision 1
; and
401.01, subdivision 2
;
(4) an individual employed on a full-time
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or part-time
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basis by the state or by a fire
department of a governmental subdivision of the state, who is engaged in any of the following
duties:
(i) firefighting;
(ii) emergency motor vehicle operation;
(iii) investigation into the cause and origin of fires;
(iv) the provision of emergency medical services; or
(v) hazardous material responder;
(5) a legally enrolled member of a volunteer
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or paid on-call
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fire department or member
of an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation who is engaged in the hazards of
firefighting;
(6) a good samaritan while complying with the request or direction of a public safety
officer to assist the officer;
(7) a reserve police officer or a reserve deputy sheriff while acting under the supervision
and authority of a political subdivision;
(8) a driver or attendant with a licensed basic or advanced life-support transportation
service who is engaged in providing emergency care;
(9) a first responder who is certified by the director of the Office of Emergency Medical
Services to perform basic emergency skills before the arrival of a licensed ambulance service
and who is a member of an organized service recognized by a local political subdivision to
respond to medical emergencies to provide initial medical care before the arrival of an
ambulance;
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and
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(10) a person, other than a state trooper, employed by the commissioner of public safety
and assigned to the State Patrol, whose primary employment duty is either Capitol security
or the enforcement of commercial motor vehicle laws and regulations
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.
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; and
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(11) a person formerly employed as a public safety officer under clauses (1) to (5) or
(7) to (10) if the person separated from service due to a duty disability, as defined in section
353.01, subdivision 41.
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EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
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This section is effective the day following
final enactment and applies retroactively from February 1, 2020.
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Sec. 8.
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[299A.412] DETERMINING WHAT IS ROUTINE.
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Neither of the following is dispositive in determining whether an activity or action is
understood to have been performed as a matter of routine under section 299A.41:
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(1) being generally described by the public safety agency as routine or ordinary; or
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(2) the frequency with which the activity or action may be performed.
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EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.
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This section is effective the day following
final enactment and applies retroactively from February 1, 2020.
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Sec. 9.
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[299A.413] EXPOSURE-RELATED CANCER CLAIMS.
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(a) An individual may file a claim that is predicated upon a public safety officer's line
of duty death that is the direct and proximate result of an exposure-related cancer if the
death occurred on or after January 1, 2020.
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(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a person eligible to file a claim for an
exposure-related cancer line of duty death of a public safety officer that occurred after
January 1, 2020, but before final enactment of this act, has three years from the date of final
enactment of this act to file the claim.
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Sec. 10.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 299A.45, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2.
Award amount.
(a) The amount of the award is the lesser of:
(1) the average tuition and fees charged by the institution; or
(2) the tuition maximums established by law for the state grant program under section
136A.121
. The tuition maximum for graduate study is the maximum established by law for
the state grant program for four-year programs.
(b) An award under this subdivision must not affect a recipient's eligibility for a state
grant under section
136A.121
.
(c) For the purposes of this subdivision, "fees" include only those fees that are mandatory
and charged to all students attending the institution.
(d) For the purpose of benefits awarded under this section, "full time" for a graduate
program is eight or more credits per term or the equivalent.
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(e) If there are insufficient funds appropriated for this purpose, the commissioner shall
determine the award amounts for each eligible applicant from available resources.
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