I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1210 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
make reforms to the benefits for Public Service Officers, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2019 
Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. COOK, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 
Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. KILMER, Mr. 
KING of New York, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. VELA, Mrs. 
WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WEXTON, and Mr. 
CARBAJAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 to make reforms to the benefits for Public 
Service Officers, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Heroes Lesley Zerebny 
and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act 
of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMOUNT OF BENEFIT INCREASED. 
Section 1201(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con-
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(a)) 
is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by 
striking ‘‘$250,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$500,000’’. 
SEC. 3. DATE OF DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF BEN-
EFIT. 
(a) DISABILITY BENEFIT.—Section 1201(b) of title 
I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘with 
respect to the date on which the catastrophic injury oc-
curred’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to the date that a de-
termination is made to make such payment’’. 
(b) DEATH BENEFIT.—Section 1201(i) of title I of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 
(34 U.S.C. 10281(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘as of the 
date of death of such officer’’ and inserting ‘‘as of the 
date that a determination is made to make such payment 
subsequent to an application’’. 
SEC. 4. AMOUNT OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 
Section 1212(a)(2) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10302(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall be computed 
on the basis set forth in section 3532 of title 38, United 
States Code’’ and inserting ‘‘shall be computed on the 
basis set forth in section 1219’’. 
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SEC. 5. COMPUTATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE AL-
LOWANCE. 
Subpart 2 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10301 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1219. COMPUTATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
ALLOWANCE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) MONTHLY RATES.—The financial assist-
ance to be paid on behalf of an eligible person who 
is pursuing a program of education consisting of in-
stitutional courses shall be computed at the rate 
of— 
‘‘(A) $2,000 per month for full-time pur-
suit; 
‘‘(B) $1,600 per month for three-quarter- 
time pursuit; or 
‘‘(C) $1,160 per month for half-time pur-
suit. 
‘‘(2) LESS
THAN
HALF-TIME
BASIS.—The fi-
nancial assistance to be paid on behalf of an eligible 
person pursuing a program of education on less than 
a half-time basis shall be computed at the rate of 
the lesser of— 
‘‘(A) the established charges for tuition 
and fees that the eligible educational institution 
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involved requires to be paid by similarly 
circumstanced noneligible persons enrolled in 
the same program; or 
‘‘(B) $2,000 per month for a full-time 
course. 
‘‘(b) TRAINING.—The financial assistance to be paid 
on behalf of an eligible person who is pursuing a full-time 
program of education which consists of institutional 
courses and alternate phases of training in a business or 
industrial establishment under which the training in the 
business or industrial establishment is strictly supple-
mental to the institutional portion, shall be computed at 
the rate of $2,000 per month. 
‘‘(c) FARM COOPERATIVE.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘enrolled in a farm cooperative program’, relating to 
an eligible person, means that the eligible person— 
‘‘(A) is enrolled in an eligible educational 
institution for a farm cooperative program con-
sisting of institutional agricultural courses 
prescheduled to fall within 44 weeks of any pe-
riod of 12 consecutive months; 
‘‘(B) pursues such program on— 
‘‘(i) a full-time basis (consisting of a 
minimum of 10 clock hours per week or 
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440 clock hours per year prescheduled to 
provide not less than 80 clock hours in any 
3-month period); 
‘‘(ii) a three-quarter-time basis (con-
sisting of a minimum of 7 clock hours per 
week); or 
‘‘(iii) a half-time basis (consisting of a 
minimum of 5 clock hours per week); and 
‘‘(C) is concurrently engaged in agricul-
tural employment which is relevant to such in-
stitutional agricultural courses, as determined 
under standards prescribed by the Attorney 
General. 
‘‘(2) COMPUTATION.—The financial assistance 
to be paid on behalf of an eligible person who is en-
rolled in a farm cooperative program shall be com-
puted at the rate of— 
‘‘(A) $636 per month for full-time pursuit; 
‘‘(B) $477 per month for three-quarter- 
time pursuit; or 
‘‘(C) $319 per month for half-time pursuit. 
‘‘(3) CALCULATION OF HOURS.—In calculating 
the number of clock hours for purposes of paragraph 
(1), the Attorney General shall include the time in-
volved in field trips and individual and group in-
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struction sponsored and conducted by the eligible 
educational institution through a duly authorized in-
structor of such institution in which the eligible per-
son is enrolled. 
‘‘(d) PROGRAMS IN REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES.— 
The financial assistance to be paid on behalf of an eligible 
person who is enrolled in a program of education at an 
eligible educational institution located in the Republic of 
the Philippines, shall be computed at the rate of $0.50 
for each $1.00 otherwise payable under this subpart. 
‘‘(e) LICENSING OR CERTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘licensing or certification test’ means a licensing or 
certification test described in section 3501(a)(5) of 
title 38, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) COMPUTATION.—Subject to paragraph (4), 
the amount of financial assistance payable under 
this subpart for a licensing or certification test is 
the lesser of $2,000 or the fee charged for the li-
censing or certification test. 
‘‘(3) NUMBER
OF
MONTHS.—The number of 
months of entitlement charged in the case of an eli-
gible person for a licensing or certification test is 
equal to the quotient (including any fraction) ob-
tained by dividing— 
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‘‘(A) the total amount paid to the eligible 
person for the licensing or certification test; by 
‘‘(B) the full-time monthly institutional 
rate of the financial assistance which, but for 
paragraph (2), the eligible person would other-
wise be paid under this subpart. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—In no event shall payment 
of financial assistance under this subsection for a li-
censing or certification test exceed the amount of the 
amount to which an eligible individual is entitled 
under this subpart. 
‘‘(f) NATIONAL TESTS FOR ADMISSION OR OPPOR-
TUNITY.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘national test’ means a national test for admission or 
national test providing an opportunity for course 
credit at institutions of higher learning described in 
section 3501(a)(5) of title 38, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) NATIONAL TESTS.—Subject to paragraph 
(4), the amount of financial assistance payable 
under this subpart for a national test is the amount 
of the fee charged for the national test. 
‘‘(3) NUMBER
OF
MONTHS.—The number of 
months of entitlement charged in the case of an eli-
gible person for a national test is equal to the 
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quotient (including any fraction) obtained by divid-
ing— 
‘‘(A) the total amount of financial assist-
ance paid to the eligible person for the national 
test; by 
‘‘(B) the full-time monthly institutional 
rate of financial assistance which, but for para-
graph (2), the eligible person would otherwise 
be paid under this subpart. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—In no event shall payment 
of financial assistance under this subsection for a 
national test exceed the amount of the amount to 
which an eligible individual is entitled under this 
subpart. 
‘‘(g) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Amounts under 
this section shall be indexed annually to the college tuition 
and fees component of the Consumer Price Index for All 
Urban Consumers.’’. 
SEC. 6. GAO STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit a report examining and 
identifying ways to improve access to and the processing 
of claims under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit pro-
gram under part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
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and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281 et seq.) 
to— 
(1) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen-
sions of the Senate; and 
(2) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 
Representatives. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under sub-
section (a) shall examine— 
(1) factors that may hinder access to the edu-
cation assistance benefit under subpart 2 of part L 
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), such 
as lack of awareness, delays in the application proc-
ess, or the timely processing of deaths and disability 
claims; and 
(2) the extent to which eligibility for benefits 
and assistance under the Public Safety Officers’ 
Benefit program under part L of title I of the Omni-
bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 
U.S.C. 10281 et seq.) is communicated to officers 
upon employment and to eligible family members fol-
lowing the loss of a public safety officer. 
Æ 
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