I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 709
To provide that a grantee may not receive the full amount of a block
grant under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program unless
that grantee adopts a health standard establishing a legal presumption
that heart, lung, and respiratory disease are occupational diseases for
public safety officers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Mr. STUPAK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide that a grantee may not receive the full amount
of a block grant under the Local Law Enforcement Block
Grant program unless that grantee adopts a health
standard establishing a legal presumption that heart,
lung, and respiratory disease are occupational diseases
for public safety officers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Law Enforcement Offi-
cers’ Health Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) the cumulative stress of a career in law en-
forcement contributes significantly to the develop-
ment of heart and lung disease of law enforcement
officers, giving rise to a presumption that such
stress caused such diseases;
(2) hearings to determine an officer’s entitle-
ment to this presumption usually result in the grant-
ing of such presumption;
(3) such hearings are expensive, create an ad-
versarial relationship between the public employer
and employee, and cause delays in receiving critical
treatment; and
(4) the creation of such a presumption as a na-
tional health standard will result in more efficient
delivery of law enforcement services nationwide.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—An entity that fails to have in ef-
fect throughout the jurisdiction of that entity the policy
described in subsection (b) shall not receive 10 percent
of the funds that would otherwise be allocated to that enti-
ty under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Pro-
gram of the Department of Justice, as described in appro-
priations Acts.
(b) POLICY REQUIRED.—The policy referred to in
subsection (a) is a policy that, for each public safety offi-
cer (as defined in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Con-
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b)) em-
ployed in the jurisdiction of that entity, the following shall
apply:
(1) If that officer was so employed for a period
of at least 5 years and, prior to the time of initial
employment, passed a physical exam that revealed
no evidence of heart, lung, or respiratory disease,
there shall be a rebuttable presumption that any
heart, lung, or respiratory disease resulting in the
death or permanent incapacity of that officer is serv-
ice connected.
(2) If any heart, lung, or respiratory disease re-
sulting in the death or permanent incapacity of that
officer is service connected, that officer shall be enti-
tled to all benefits, including retirement, disability or
workers compensation benefits, provided to other
public employees in the jurisdiction of that entity for
service-connected heart, lung, or respiratory disease.
(c) REALLOCATION.—Any funds that are not allo-
cated for failure to comply with this Act shall be reallo-
cated to entities that comply with this Act.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The provisions of this Act shall apply to any funds
allocated for any fiscal year beginning with fiscal year
2003.
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