An Act amending the act of June 24, 1976 (P.L.424, No.101), referred to as the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act, extending the payment of death benefits to surviving spouse or children or parents of corrections officers; and making editorial changes.

PRINTER'S NO. 2299
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1858
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY PIELLI, RIGBY, BRENNAN, HILL-EVANS, FREEMAN,
GUENST, SANCHEZ, VENKAT, DONAHUE, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, HANBIDGE,
KHAN, GILLEN, MALAGARI, RADER, HOGAN, WEBSTER, MULLINS,
M. JONES, BERNSTINE, LEADBETER, BURNS, IRVIN, CONKLIN, GIRAL,
SHUSTERMAN, NEILSON, HOHENSTEIN, FRIEL, KUTZ, DELLOSO,
GOUGHNOUR, HADDOCK, O'MARA, MUNROE, BOROWSKI AND CIRESI,
SEPTEMBER 10, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of June 24, 1976 (P.L.424, No.101), entitled
"An act providing for the payment of death benefits to the
surviving spouse or children or parents of firefighters,
ambulance service or rescue squad members, law enforcement
officers or National Guard members who die as a result of the
performance of their duties," extending the payment of death
benefits to surviving spouse or children or parents of
corrections officers; and making editorial changes.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The title and section 1(a) introductory
paragraph, (a.1), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (g) of the act of June
24, 1976 (P.L.424, No.101), referred to as the Emergency and Law
Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act, are amended to read:
AN ACT
Providing for the payment of death benefits to the surviving
spouse or children or parents of firefighters, ambulance
service or rescue squad members, law enforcement officers
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[or], National Guard members or corrections officers who die
as a result of the performance of their duties.
Section 1. (a) In the event a law enforcement officer,
ambulance service or rescue squad member, firefighter, certified
hazardous material response team member, member of the
Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol [or], National Guard member or
corrections officer dies as a result of the performance of [his]
the individual's duties, an application, including a
certification of death, shall be made to the department within
three years of the date of such death by any of the following:
* * *
(a.1) A firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad
member, law enforcement officer, certified hazardous material
response team member, member of the Pennsylvania Civil Air
Patrol [or], National Guard member or corrections officer who
suffers a fatal heart attack or stroke while on duty or not
later than 24 hours after participating in a physical training
exercise or responding to an emergency is presumed to have died
as a result of the performance of [his] the individual's duties
for purposes of this act.
(b) A volunteer firefighter shall be deemed to be acting in
the performance of [his] the individual's duties for the
purposes of this act going to or directly returning from a fire
which the fire company or fire department attended including
travel from and direct return to a firefighter's home, place of
business or other place where [he or she] the individual shall
have been when [he or she] the individual received the call or
alarm or while participating in instruction fire drills in which
the fire department or fire company shall have participated or
while repairing or doing other work about or on the fire
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apparatus or buildings and grounds of the fire company or fire
department upon the authorization of the chief of the fire
company or fire department or other person in charge or while
answering any emergency calls for any purpose or while riding
upon the fire apparatus which is owned or used by the fire
company or fire department or while performing any other duties
of such fire company or fire department as authorized by the
municipality or while performing duties imposed by section 15,
act of April 27, 1927 (P.L.465, No.299), referred to as the Fire
and Panic Act.
(c) A volunteer ambulance service, certified hazardous
material response team or rescue squad member or member of the
Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol shall be deemed to be acting in
the performance of [his] the individual's duties for the
purposes of this act going to or directly returning from an
emergency which the ambulance service, certified hazardous
material response team, rescue squad or member of the
Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol attended including travel from and
direct return to an ambulance service, certified hazardous
material response team, rescue squad or Pennsylvania Civil Air
Patrol member's home, place of business or other place where [he
or she] the individual shall have been when [he or she] the
individual received the call or alarm or while participating in
drills in which the ambulance service, certified hazardous
material response team, rescue squad or Pennsylvania Civil Air
Patrol shall have participated or while repairing or doing other
work about or on any emergency vehicle or buildings and grounds
of the ambulance service, certified hazardous material response
team, rescue squad or Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol upon the
authorization of the chief of the ambulance service, certified
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hazardous material response team, rescue squad or Pennsylvania
Civil Air Patrol or other person in charge while answering any
emergency calls for any purpose or while riding upon any
vehicles which are owned or used by the ambulance service,
certified hazardous material response team, rescue squad or
Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol.
(d) Upon receipt of such certification, the Commonwealth
shall, from moneys payable out of the General Fund, pay to the
surviving spouse or, if there is no surviving spouse, to the
minor children of the paid firefighter, ambulance service or
rescue squad member [or], law enforcement officer or corrections
officer who died as a result of the performance of [his] the
individual's duty the sum of $100,000, adjusted in accordance
with subsection (f) of this section and an amount equal to the
monthly salary, adjusted in accordance with subsection (f) of
this section, of the deceased paid firefighter, ambulance
service or rescue squad member [or], law enforcement officer or
corrections officer, less any workers' compensation or pension
or retirement benefits paid to such survivors, and shall
continue such monthly payments until there is no eligible
beneficiary to receive them. For the purpose of this subsection,
the term "eligible beneficiary" means the surviving spouse or
the child or children under the age of eighteen years or, if
attending college, under the age of twenty-three years, of the
firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member [or], law
enforcement officer or corrections officer who died as a result
of the performance of [his] the individual's duty. When no
spouse or minor children survive, a single sum of $100,000,
adjusted in accordance with subsection (f) of this section,
shall be paid to the parent or parents of such firefighter,
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ambulance service member, rescue squad member [or], law
enforcement officer or corrections officer.
(e) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall pay out of the
General Fund to the surviving spouse or, if there is no
surviving spouse, the minor children of a National Guard member,
certified hazardous material response team member, member of the
Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol, volunteer firefighter, ambulance
service or rescue squad member who died as a result of the
performance of [his] the individual's duties the sum of
$100,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection (f) of this
section. When no spouse or minor children survive, the benefit
shall be paid to the parent or parents of such National Guard
member, certified hazardous material response team member,
member of the Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol, volunteer
firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member. The
benefit shall be payable whether or not the National Guard
member or certified hazardous material response team member,
member of the Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol, volunteer
firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member died as a
result of the performance of [his] the individual's duty within
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
* * *
(g) A National Guard member shall be deemed to be acting in
the performance of [his] the individual's duties for the
purposes of this act when:
(1) [his] the individual's death occurs in an official duty
status authorized under 51 Pa.C.S. § 508 (relating to active
State duty for emergency); or
(2) going directly to or from the place of such duties.
Section 2. Section 2 of the act is amended by adding
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definitions to read:
Section 2. The following words and phrases when used in this
act shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
* * *
"Correctional institution" means a correctional facility,
prison or jail owned or operated by a county or the
Commonwealth.
"Corrections officer" means an individual employed at a
correctional institution to provide any security or custodial
service for inmates.
* * *
Section 3. Sections 2.1 and 3 of the act are amended to
read:
Section 2.1. This act shall be broadly construed to grant
benefits to firefighters, ambulance service or rescue squad
members, law enforcement officers [or], National Guard personnel
or corrections officers for deaths related to the performance of
their duties.
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately and its
provisions shall be retroactive to January 1, 1976 and shall be
applicable to the deaths of all firefighters, ambulance service
or rescue squad members [and], law enforcement personnel and
corrections officers dying on and after said date as the direct
result of injuries sustained in the performance of their duties,
regardless of the date when such injuries occurred.
Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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