East PDX Today

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) has cosponsored three bipartisan bills to ensure law enforcement, firefighters, and first responders receive the benefits they deserve. The Public Safety Retirees Healthcare Protection Act, the Law Enforcement Officer Fair Retirement Act, and the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act would help ensure public safety officers receive well-earned health care and retirement benefits.

“Law enforcement, firefighters, and other first responders often put themselves in difficult and dangerous situations to save lives and keep our communities safe. We owe it to them and their families to ensure they receive the benefits and care they need and deserve,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

Public Safety Retirees Healthcare Protection Act (H.R.957)

Despite working stressful and hazardous jobs, many police officers, firefighters, and other public safety officers lose access to their employer-sponsored health care coverage upon retirement — yet they are still many years away from Medicare eligibility, often leading to significant out-of-pocket expenses. In response, as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Congress included a provision that allows retired police officers and firefighters to withdraw $3,000 tax-free from their pension plan each year to pay health care or long-term care insurance premiums. However, this amount has not increased since. The bipartisan Public Safety Retirees Healthcare Protection Act seeks to ensure retired public safety officers receive the benefits that they have earned by increasing the pre-tax distribution public safety officers can use from their pension plan from $3,000 to $6,000. Full text of the bill is available here.

Law Enforcement Officer Fair Retirement Act (H.R.1323)

Despite the demanding nature of their jobs, overtime compensation for federal police is often restricted due to a technicality under current law. The bipartisan Law Enforcement Officer Fair Retirement Act would fix this problem by allowing officers to elect to have the Office of Personnel Management consider the full value of overtime compensation accrued in calculating their CSRS/FERS retirement annuity. This would ensure all overtime hours worked are counted when calculating retirement benefits for federal law enforcement officers. Full text of the bill is available here.

Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act (H.R.1719)

First responders face a significantly higher risk of developing cancer due to exposure to carcinogens encountered in the line of duty. The bipartisan, bicameral Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act would ensure firefighters, police, and EMS personnel who die or become disabled due to occupational cancer receive benefits under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program. Full text of the bill is available here.

Original source can be found here.