Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2016

Summary: Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2016 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to revise requirements for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program. (The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers and survivors of public safety officers who are killed or injured in the line of duty.) It authorizes the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to establish PSOB program rules, regulations, and procedures based on standards developed by another federal agency. In determining a claimant's eligibility for death or disability benefits, the BJA must give substantial weight to evidence and facts presented by a state, local, or federal agency. The BJA must also publish and update information on pending claims and report to Congress on submitted claims for death, disability, and educational benefits. This section extends the age limitation for a PSOB claim for death, disability, or education benefits that is approved more than one year after the date on which it was filed. The BJA must attempt to obtain necessary documentation to determine a claimant's eligibility for death, disability, or education benefits. If it cannot determine eligibility due to a lack of documentation from a third party (e.g., a public agency), then the BJA may abandon the claim only after it utilizes investigative tools, including subpoenas, to obtain the information. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that a public safety officer acted properly at the time of injury or death and that no specified limitation (e.g., voluntary intoxication at the time of injury or death) bars the payment of death or disability benefits. The BJA may rebut the presumption by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Officers' Benefits 
Improvement Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. REPORTS.

    Section 1205 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796c) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``Rules, regulations, 
        and procedures issued under this part may include regulations 
        based on standards developed by another Federal agency for 
        programs related to public safety officer death or disability 
        claims.'' before the last sentence;
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``In making''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) In making a determination under section 1201, the Bureau 
shall give substantial weight to the evidence and all findings of fact 
presented by a State, local, or Federal administrative or investigative 
agency regarding eligibility for death or disability benefits.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e)(1)(A) Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, the Bureau shall make available on the public website 
of the Bureau information on all death, disability, and educational 
assistance claims submitted under this part that are pending as of the 
date on which the information is made available.
    ``(B) Not less frequently than once per week, the Bureau shall make 
available on the public website of the Bureau updated information with 
respect to all death, disability, and educational assistance claims 
submitted under this part that are pending as of the date on which the 
information is made available.
    ``(C) The information made available under this paragraph shall 
include--
            ``(i) for each pending claim--
                    ``(I) the date on which the claim was submitted to 
                the Bureau;
                    ``(II) the State of residence of the claimant;
                    ``(III) an anonymized, identifying claim number; 
                and
                    ``(IV) the nature of the claim; and
            ``(ii) the total number of pending claims that were 
        submitted to the Bureau more than 1 year before the date on 
        which the information is made available.
    ``(2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, and every 180 days thereafter, the Bureau shall submit 
to Congress a report on the death, disability, and educational 
assistance claims submitted under this part.
    ``(B) Each report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include 
information on--
            ``(i) the total number of claims for which a final 
        determination has been made during the 180-day period preceding 
        the report;
            ``(ii) the amount of time required to process each claim 
        for which a final determination has been made during the 180-
        day period preceding the report;
            ``(iii) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
        the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
        on or before that date for which a final determination has not 
        been made;
            ``(iv) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
        the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
        on or before the date that is 1 year before that date for which 
        a final determination has not been made;
            ``(v) for each claim described in clause (iv), a detailed 
        description of the basis for delay;
            ``(vi) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
        the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
        on or before that date relating to exposure due to the 
        September 11, 2001, terrorism attacks for which a final 
        determination has not been made;
            ``(vii) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding 
        the report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
        on or before the date that is 1 year before that date relating 
        to exposure due to the September 11, 2001, terrorism attacks 
        for which a final determination has not been made;
            ``(viii) for each claim described in clause (vii), a 
        detailed description of the basis for delay;
            ``(ix) the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau 
        relating to exposure due to the September 11, 2001, terrorism 
        attacks for which a final determination was made during the 
        180-day period preceding the report, and the average award 
        amount for any such claims that were approved;
            ``(x) the result of each claim for which a final 
        determination was made during the 180-day period preceding the 
        report, including the number of claims rejected and the basis 
        for any denial of benefits;
            ``(xi) the number of final determinations which were 
        appealed during the 180-day period preceding the report, 
        regardless of when the final determination was first made;
            ``(xii) the average number of claims processed per reviewer 
        of the Bureau during the 180-day period preceding the report;
            ``(xiii) for any claim submitted to the Bureau that 
        required the submission of additional information from a public 
        agency, and for which the public agency completed providing all 
        of the required information during the 180-day period preceding 
        the report, the average length of the period beginning on the 
        date the public agency was contacted by the Bureau and ending 
        on the date on which the public agency submitted all required 
        information to the Bureau;
            ``(xiv) for any claim submitted to the Bureau for which the 
        Bureau issued a subpoena to a public agency during the 180-day 
        period preceding the report in order to obtain information or 
        documentation necessary to determine the claim, the name of the 
        public agency, the date on which the subpoena was issued, and 
        the dates on which the public agency was contacted by the 
        Bureau before the issuance of the subpoena; and
            ``(xv) information on the compliance of the Bureau with the 
        obligation to offset award amounts under section 1201(f)(3), 
        including--
                    ``(I) the number of claims that are eligible for 
                compensation under both this part and the September 
                11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 
                note; Public Law 107-42) (commonly referred to as the 
                `VCF');
                    ``(II) for each claim described in subclause (I) 
                for which compensation has been paid under the VCF, the 
                amount of compensation paid under the VCF;
                    ``(III) the number of claims described in subclause 
                (I) for which the Bureau has made a final 
                determination; and
                    ``(IV) the number of claims described in subclause 
                (I) for which the Bureau has not made a final 
                determination.
    ``(3) Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of the 
Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2016, and every 5 
years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            ``(A) conduct a study on the compliance of the Bureau with 
        the obligation to offset award amounts under section 
        1201(f)(3); and
            ``(B) submit to Congress a report on the study conducted 
        under subparagraph (A) that includes an assessment of whether 
        the Bureau has provided the information required under 
        subparagraph (B)(ix) of paragraph (2) of this subsection in 
        each report required under that paragraph.
    ``(4) In this subsection, the term `nature of the claim' means 
whether the claim is a claim for--
            ``(A) benefits under this subpart with respect to the death 
        of a public safety officer;
            ``(B) benefits under this subpart with respect to the 
        disability of a public safety officer; or
            ``(C) education assistance under subpart 2.''.

SEC. 3. AGE LIMITATION FOR CHILDREN.

    Section 1212(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796d-1(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``No child'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), no child''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Delayed approvals.--
                    ``(A) Educational assistance application.--If a 
                claim for assistance under this subpart is approved 
                more than 1 year after the date on which the 
                application for such assistance is filed with the 
                Attorney General, the age limitation under this 
                subsection shall be extended by the length of the 
                period--
                            ``(i) beginning on the day after the date 
                        that is 1 year after the date on which the 
                        application is filed; and
                            ``(ii) ending on the date on which the 
                        application is approved.
                    ``(B) Claim for benefits for death or permanent and 
                total disability.--In addition to an extension under 
                subparagraph (A), if any, for an application for 
                assistance under this subpart that relates to a claim 
                for benefits under subpart 1 that was approved more 
                than 1 year after the date on which the claim was filed 
                with the Attorney General, the age limitation under 
                this subsection shall be extended by the length of the 
                period--
                            ``(i) beginning on the day after the date 
                        that is 1 year after the date on which the 
                        claim for benefits is submitted; and
                            ``(ii) ending on the date on which the 
                        claim for benefits is approved.''.

SEC. 4. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS.

    Subpart 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:

``SEC. 1206. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Bureau, with all due diligence, shall 
expeditiously attempt to obtain the information and documentation 
necessary to adjudicate a benefit claim filed under this part, 
including a claim for financial assistance under subpart 2.
    ``(b) Sufficient Information Unavailable.--If a benefit claim filed 
under this part, including a claim for financial assistance under 
subpart 2, is unable to be adjudicated by the Bureau because of a lack 
of information or documentation from a third party, such as a public 
agency, the Bureau may not abandon the benefit claim unless the Bureau 
has utilized the investigative tools available to the Bureau to obtain 
the necessary information or documentation, including subpoenas.''.

SEC. 5. PRESUMPTION THAT OFFICER ACTED PROPERLY.

    Section 1202 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796a) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``No benefit'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--No benefit''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Presumption.--In determining whether a benefit is payable 
under this part, the Bureau shall--
            ``(1) presume that none of the limitations described in 
        subsection (a) apply; and
            ``(2) have the burden of establishing by clear and 
        convincing evidence that a limitation described in subsection 
        (a) applies.''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall--
            (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
            (2) apply to any benefit claim or application under part L 
        of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
        1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) that is--
                    (A) pending before the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
                on the date of enactment; or
                    (B) received by the Bureau on or after the date of 
                enactment of this Act.