I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 921

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income

pension benefits received by the survivors of law enforcement officers

killed in the line of duty.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 1997

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude

from gross income pension benefits received by the survivors of law enforcement officers killed in the line of

duty.

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

3 SECTION 1. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR SURVI4 VOR BENEFITS ATTRIBUTABLE TO SERVICE

5 BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER WHO IS

6 KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap8 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
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1 items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended

2 by redesignating section 138 as section 139 and by insert3 ing after section 137 the following new section:

4 ‘‘SEC. 138. SURVIVOR BENEFITS ATTRIBUTABLE TO SERV5 ICE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER WHO

6 IS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Gross income shall not include

8 any amount paid as a survivor annuity on account of the

9 death of a law enforcement officer killed in the line of

10 duty—

11 ‘‘(1) if such annuity is provided under a govern12 mental plan which meets the requirements of section

13 401(a) to the spouse (or a former spouse) of the law

14 enforcement officer or to a child of such officer, and

15 ‘‘(2) to the extent such annuity is attributable

16 to such officer’s service as a law enforcement officer.

17 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not

19 apply with respect to the death of any law enforce20 ment officer if—

21 ‘‘(A) the death was caused by the inten22 tional misconduct of the officer or by such offi23 cer’s intention to bring about such officer’s

24 death,
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1 ‘‘(B) the officer was voluntarily intoxicated

2 (as defined in section 1204 of the Omnibus

3 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968) at

4 the time of death, or

5 ‘‘(C) the officer was performing such offi6 cer’s duties in a grossly negligent manner at

7 the time of death.

8 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR BENEFITS PAID TO CER9 TAIN INDIVIDUALS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply

10 to any payment to an individual whose actions were

11 a substantial contributing factor to the death of the

12 officer.

13 ‘‘(c) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—For purposes

14 of this section, the term ‘law enforcement officer’ means

15 an individual serving a public agency (as defined in section

16 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act

17 of 1968) in an official capacity, with or without compensa18 tion, as a law enforcement officer (as defined in such sec19 tion).’’

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

21 for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code

22 is amended by striking the last item and inserting the fol23 lowing new items:

‘‘Sec. 138. Survivor benefits attributable to service by a law enforcement officer who is killed in the line of duty.

‘‘Sec. 139. Cross references to other Acts.’’
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall apply to amounts received in taxable

3 years beginning after December 31, 1996.

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