I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2441 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

provide adequate benefits for public safety officers injured or killed 

in the line of duty, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2009 

Mr. MELANCON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to provide adequate benefits for public safety 

officers injured or killed in the line of duty, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘First Responders Sup5 port Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANDING DISABILITY BENEFITS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1201 of the Omnibus 

3 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

4 3796) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘$250,000’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘$350,000’’; and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (h)’’ and in9 serting ‘‘subsection (h)(1)’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘permanently and totally’’; 

12 and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘, to the extent that appro14 priations are provided’’ and all that follows and 

15 inserting ‘‘a benefit in an amount determined in 

16 accordance with subsection (h)(2) to such offi17 cer.’’; and 

18 (3) in subsection (h)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘the effective date of this 

20 subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of enact21 ment of the First Responders Support Act of 

22 2009’’; 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(h)’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subsection (b) and subparagraph 

26 (B) of this paragraph, the amount of a benefit paid under 


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1 subsection (b) to a public safety officer who has become 

2 disabled as the direct result of a catastrophic injury sus3 tained in the line of duty shall be in an amount equal to 

4 the benefit that is payable under subsection (a) in the ap5 plicable year multiplied by the level of disability of the 

6 public safety officer, as determined in accordance with 

7 subparagraph (C). 

8 ‘‘(B) No benefit shall be paid under subsection (b) 

9 if the level of disability of the public safety officer is less 

10 than 50 percent. 

11 ‘‘(C)(i) The Director shall adopt and apply a schedule 

12 of levels of disability of public safety officers associated 

13 with specific injuries or combinations of injuries, based 

14 upon the average impairments of earning capacity result15 ing from the injuries concerned. 

16 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of the schedule required by this 

17 subparagraph, the levels of disability eligible for benefits 

18 shall be— 

19 ‘‘(I) based on the average impairment of earn20 ing capacity resulting from the injuries; and 

21 ‘‘(II) set at 50, 75, and 100 percent of dis22 ability with a minimum threshold of 50 percent.’’. 

23 (b) DEFINITION OF CATASTROPHIC INJURY.—Sec24 tion 1204(1) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

25 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b(1)) is amended by 


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1 striking ‘‘permanently prevent an individual from per2 forming any gainful work’’ and inserting ‘‘sufficiently di3 minishes the ability of an individual to perform substan4 tially gainful work (for purposes of this paragraph mar5 ginal employment shall not be considered gainful work)’’. 

6 (c) EXPEDITING BENEFITS.—Section 1201 of the 

7 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

8 U.S.C. 3796) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(n) Not later than 12 months after the date on 

11 which a claimant submits all information required for a 

12 claim under this subpart, the Bureau shall determine 

13 whether the claimant is eligible to receive a benefit under 

14 this subpart.’’. 

15 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 9 months after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

17 shall promulgate regulations to carry out the amendments 

18 made by this section. 

19 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General, 

21 in addition to any other amounts otherwise authorized to 

22 be appropriated, $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

23 through 2014 to hire employees for the Bureau of Justice 

24 Assistance and obtain the technology and equipment nec25 essary to expedite the processing of claims and make disVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:58 May 16, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2441.IH H2441

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1 ability determinations under subpart 1 of part L of the 

2 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

3 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.), as amended by this section. 

4 SEC. 3. EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1212(a) of the Omnibus 

6 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

7 3796d–1(a)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (3), and 

11 subject to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph, financial 

12 assistance under this subpart shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) consist of direct payments to an eligible de14 pendent; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) be paid at the monthly rate of not more 

16 than $1,500. 

17 ‘‘(B) The Director shall promulgate regulations to es18 tablish the amount of financial assistance under subpara19 graph (A) for an eligible dependent, which shall be based 

20 on the portion of the normal full-time academic workload 

21 for the course of study, as determined by the eligible edu22 cational institution, that the eligible dependent is pur23 suing. 

24 ‘‘(C) On October 1 of each fiscal year beginning after 

25 the date of enactment of the First Responders Support 


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1 Act of 2009, the Director shall adjust the level of the ben2 efit payable during that fiscal year under subparagraph 

3 (A)(ii), to reflect the annual percentage change in the 

4 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, pub5 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, occurring in the 

6 1-year period ending on June 1 immediately preceding 

7 such October 1.’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘to which 

9 the eligible dependent would otherwise be entitled to 

10 receive’’ and inserting ‘‘that the eligible dependent 

11 receives’’. 

12 (b) CHILDREN.—Section 1212(a)(1) of the Omnibus 

13 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

14 3796d–1(a)(1)) is amended— 

15 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

16 the end; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘a totally 

18 and permanently disabling injury’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘the officer’s catastrophic injury’’; 

20 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub21 paragraph (C); and 

22 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(B) the child of the spouse of an officer de25 scribed in subparagraph (A) at the time of the offiVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:58 May 16, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2441.IH H2441

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1 cer’s death or on the date of the officer’s cata2 strophic injury; or’’. 

3 SEC. 4. PRIORITIZATION OF CLAIMS. 

4 Section 1205 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

5 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796c) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(d)(1) The Bureau shall adopt and apply a system 

8 of prioritization of claims for benefits under this part 

9 based on the severity of the claim and the likelihood of 

10 approval of the claim. 

11 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, a claim for a 

12 death benefit or 100 percent disability shall be considered 

13 more severe and given priority.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. CREDIT FOR CONTINUING CARE OF FIRST RE15 SPONDERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub17 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

18 1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by redes19 ignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting after 

20 section 35 the following new section: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 36. CONTINUING CARE FOR INJURED FIRST RE22 SPONDERS. 

23 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al24 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle 

25 for the taxable year an amount equal to the qualified medVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:58 May 16, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2441.IH H2441

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1 ical expenses paid or incurred during such taxable year 

2 by a qualified injured first responder or a family member 

3 of a qualified injured first responder. 

4 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the credit 

6 allowed under subsection (a) for any taxable year 

7 shall not exceed $7,500. 

8 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS

9 INCOME.—The amount of the credit allowed by sub10 section (a) (determined without regard to this sub11 section) shall be reduced (but not below zero) by 5 

12 percent of so much of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross 

13 income as exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of 

14 a joint return). 

15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED INJURED FIRST RESPONDER.— 

17 The term ‘qualified injured first responder’ means 

18 any public safety officer who has suffered an injury 

19 that substantially diminishes the ability of the public 

20 safety officer to perform gainful work while per21 forming an official duty as a public safety officer. 

22 ‘‘(2) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘family 

23 member’ includes family members described in sec24 tion 267(c)(4). 


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1 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED MEDICAL EXPENSES.—The 

2 term ‘qualified medical expenses’ means expenses 

3 paid or incurred, not compensated for by insurance 

4 or otherwise, for medical care (within the meaning 

5 of section 213(d)) in connection with an injury of a 

6 qualified injured first responder which was incurred 

7 while the qualified injured first responder was per8 forming an official duty as a public safety officer. 

9 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER.—The term 

10 ‘public safety officer’ has the meaning given such 

11 term by section 1204(9) of the Omnibus Crime Con12 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968. 

13 ‘‘(d) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No credit or deduction 

14 shall be allowed under this chapter with respect to any 

15 expenses which are taken into account under this sec16 tion.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 

19 31, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘or 

20 6428’’ and inserting ‘‘, 36, or 6428’’. 

21 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

22 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the item 

24 relating to section 36 and inserting the following 

25 new items: 


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‘‘Sec. 36. Continuing care for injured first responders. 

‘‘Sec. 37. Overpayments of tax.’’. 

1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2009. 

4 SEC. 6. EXPANDING COUNSELING AND MENTAL HEALTH 

5 SERVICES. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

8 the Bureau of Justice Assistance; 

9 (2) the term ‘‘eligible organization’’ means an 

10 organization that provides free or reduced cost men11 tal health services or counseling to public safety offi12 cers seriously injured in the line of duty and the 

13 family members of public safety officers killed or se14 riously injured in the line of duty; 

15 (3) the term ‘‘public safety officer’’ has the 

16 meaning given that term in section 1204 of the Om17 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

18 (42 U.S.C. 3796b); and 

19 (4) the term ‘‘reduced cost’’, relating to mental 

20 health services or counseling, means that the organi21 zation providing the services or counseling charges 

22 not more than 50 percent of the amount that the or23 ganization would otherwise charge for the services or 

24 counseling. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Direc2 tor may make grants to eligible organizations to provide 

3 mental health services or counseling to public safety offi4 cers seriously injured in the line of duty and the family 

5 members of public safety officers killed or seriously in6 jured in the line of duty. 

7 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible organization desiring 

8 a grant under this section shall submit an application at 

9 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in10 formation as the Director may establish. 

Æ 


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