Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act
Bill: S.3474 | Sponsor: Sen. Sinema, Kyrsten (D-AZ)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act
This bill increases benefits to survivors of federal employees who die in the line of duty.
Specifically, the bill increases the death benefit for federal employees from $10,000 to $100,000 and increases the funeral benefit from $800 to $8,800. Both amounts must be adjusted annually for inflation. The bill also excludes the death benefit from gross income for purposes of federal taxation.

To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase death gratuities and 
   funeral allowances for Federal employees, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Honoring Civil Servants Killed in 
the Line of Duty Act''.

SEC. 2. INCREASING DEATH GRATUITY FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES KILLED IN THE 
              LINE OF DUTY.

    (a) Amendments to Title 5, United States Code.--
            (1) In general.--Subchapter VII of chapter 55 of title 5, 
        United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
``Sec. 5571. Employee death gratuity payments
    ``(a) Definition.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 5561(2), in this 
        section, the term `employee' means an individual who has been 
        determined by the Secretary of Labor to be an employee within 
        the meaning of section 8101(1).
            ``(2) Exclusive authority.--A determination described in 
        paragraph (1) may be made only by the Secretary of Labor.
    ``(b) Gratuity.--
            ``(1) In general.--With respect to the death of an employee 
        occurring on or after the date of enactment of this section, 
        notwithstanding section 8116, and in addition to any payment 
        made under subchapter I of chapter 81, the head of the agency 
        employing the employee shall pay from appropriations made 
        available for salaries and expenses of that agency a death 
        gratuity to the person identified under subsection (c)(2), if 
        the death of the employee--
                    ``(A) results from injury sustained while in the 
                line of duty of the employee; and
                    ``(B) is not--
                            ``(i) caused by willful misconduct of the 
                        employee;
                            ``(ii) caused by the intention of the 
                        employee to bring about the injury or death of 
                        the employee or another; or
                            ``(iii) proximately caused by the 
                        intoxication of the injured employee.
            ``(2) Amount.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), the amount of a death gratuity paid 
                under paragraph (1) with respect to an employee shall 
                be $100,000, as adjusted each March 1 by the amount 
                determined by the Secretary of Labor to represent the 
                percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All 
                Urban Consumers (all items; United States city average) 
                published for December of the preceding year over that 
                Index published for the December of the year prior to 
                the preceding year, adjusted to the nearest \1/10\ of 1 
                percent.
                    ``(B) Local compensation plans.--For an employee 
                compensated under a local compensation plan established 
                under section 408 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 
                (22 U.S.C. 3968), the amount of a death gratuity paid 
                under paragraph (1) with respect to the employee shall 
                be in an amount determined in rules issued by the 
                Secretary of State.
    ``(c) Recipient of Payment.--
            ``(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `child'--
                    ``(A) includes--
                            ``(i) a natural child; and
                            ``(ii) an adopted child; and
                    ``(B) does not include a stepchild.
            ``(2) Order of precedence.--A death gratuity paid under 
        subsection (b) with respect to an employee shall be paid in the 
        following order of precedence:
                    ``(A)(i) To the beneficiary designated to receive 
                the gratuity by the employee in a signed and witnessed 
                writing that is received by the agency employing the 
                employee before the date of the death of the employee.
                    ``(ii) A designation, change, or cancellation of 
                beneficiary in a will, or another document not 
                described in clause (i), shall have no force or effect 
                for the purposes of that clause.
                    ``(B) If there is no beneficiary described in 
                subparagraph (A), to the surviving spouse of the 
                employee.
                    ``(C) If neither subparagraph (A) nor (B) applies, 
                to the children of the employee (including the 
                descendant of any deceased child by representation) 
                such that each such child receives an equal amount of 
                the gratuity.
                    ``(D) If none of subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 
                applies, to the surviving parents of the employee such 
                that each such surviving parent receives an equal 
                amount of the gratuity.
                    ``(E) If none of subparagraphs (A) through (D) 
                applies, to the duly appointed executor or 
                administrator of the estate of the employee.
                    ``(F) If none of subparagraphs (A) through (E) 
                applies, to the person entitled, under the laws of the 
                State in which the employee is domiciled, as of the 
                date on which the employee dies, to receive the 
                payment.
    ``(d) Tax Treatment of Payments.--For purposes of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, with respect to any death gratuity payment made 
to a surviving beneficiary under this section, that payment shall not 
be included in the gross income of that beneficiary.''.
            (2) Repeal of death gratuity payment authority.--Section 
        651 of the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government 
        Appropriations Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. 8133 note) is repealed.
            (3) Technical and conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Table of chapters.--In the table of subchapters 
                for chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, the item 
                relating to subchapter VII is amended to read as 
                follows:

    ``subchapter vii - payments to missing persons and payments for 
                         disability or death''.

                    (B) Table of sections.--The table of sections for 
                subchapter VII of chapter 55 of title 5, United States 
                Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``5571. Employee death gratuity payments.''.
    (b) Amendment to Title 49.--Section 40122(g)(2) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (I)(iii), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (J), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (J), the following:
                    ``(K) section 5571, relating to death gratuities 
                resulting from an injury sustained in the line of 
                duty.''.

SEC. 3. FUNERAL EXPENSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 8134(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)'';
            (2) by striking ``$800'' and inserting ``$8,800''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) The amount described in paragraph (1) shall be adjusted on 
March 1 of each year by the percentage amount determined by the 
Secretary of Labor under section 8146a for that year.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a)(2) shall 
apply with respect to any death occurring on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. DEATH GRATUITY FOR INJURIES INCURRED IN CONNECTION WITH 
              EMPLOYEE'S SERVICE WITH AN ARMED FORCE.

    Section 8102a of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``The United States'' and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The United States'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by striking 
                ``up to''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Adjustment.--The amount described in paragraph (1) 
        shall be adjusted each March 1 by the amount determined by the 
        Secretary of Labor to represent the percentage change in the 
        Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; United 
        States city average) published for December of the preceding 
        year over that Index published for the December of the year 
        prior to the preceding year, adjusted to the nearest \1/10\ of 
        1 percent.'';
            (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Relationship to Other Benefits.--With respect to a death 
occurring on or after the date of enactment of the Honoring Civil 
Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act, the death gratuity payable 
under this section may not be reduced by the amount of any other death 
gratuity provided under any other provision of Federal law based on the 
same death.''; and
            (3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) If a person covered by this section does not have any 
        eligible survivors, as described in this subsection, and that 
        person has not designated an alternate person to receive a 
        payment under this section, the payment shall be paid to the 
        personal representative of the person's estate.''.

SEC. 5. AGENCY GRATUITY FOR DEATHS SUSTAINED IN THE LINE OF DUTY 
              ABROAD.

    Section 413 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3973) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by striking 
                ``dependents'' and inserting ``beneficiaries''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence, by inserting ``, except 
                as provided in subsection (e)'' after ``payable from 
                any source'';
            (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
    ``(b) Executive Agencies.--The head of an executive agency shall, 
pursuant to guidance issued under subsection (c), make a death gratuity 
payment authorized by this section to the surviving beneficiaries of--
            ``(1) any employee of that agency who dies as a result of 
        injuries sustained in the performance of duty abroad while 
        subject to the authority of the chief of mission pursuant to 
        section 207; or
            ``(2) an individual in a special category serving in an 
        uncompensated capacity for that agency abroad in support of a 
        diplomatic mission, as identified in guidance issued under 
        subsection (c), who dies as a result of injuries sustained in 
        the performance of duty abroad.'';
            (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
    ``(d) Eligibility Under Chapter 81 of Title 5, United States 
Code.--A death gratuity payment shall be made under this section only 
if the death is determined by the Secretary of Labor to have resulted 
from an injury (excluding a disease proximately caused by the 
employment) sustained in the performance of duty under section 8102 of 
title 5, United States Code.'';
            (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g);
            (5) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Offset.--For deaths occurring on or after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, the death gratuity payable under this 
section shall be reduced by the amount of any death gratuity provided 
under section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, based on the same 
death.
    ``(f) Tax Treatment of Payments.--For purposes of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, with respect to any death gratuity payment made 
to a surviving beneficiary under this section, that payment shall not 
be included in the gross income of that beneficiary.''; and
            (6) in subsection (g), as so redesignated by paragraph (4), 
        by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) the term `surviving beneficiaries' means the person 
        or persons identified pursuant to the order of precedence 
        established under section 5571(c)(2) of title 5, United States 
        Code.''.

SEC. 6. EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``agency'' means an agency that is authorized 
        or required to make a payment under a covered provision; and
            (2) the term ``covered provision'' means--
                    (A) section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, as 
                added by section 2 of this Act;
                    (B) section 8102a of title 5, United States Code, 
                as amended by section 4 of this Act; or
                    (C) section 413 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 
                (22 U.S.C. 3973), as amended by section 5 of this Act.
    (b) Authorization.--If the head of an agency determines, with the 
concurrence of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
that a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other incident results in 
the inability of the agency to make additional payments under a covered 
provision--
            (1) there are authorized to be appropriated to the agency 
        such sums as may be necessary to make those additional 
        payments; and
            (2) the head of the agency may make those additional 
        payments only to the extent additional amounts are made 
        available for those purposes.
    (c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, not later 
than 30 days after the date on which the head of an agency submits to 
Congress a request for supplemental appropriations for the purposes 
described in subsection (b), Congress should take action with respect 
to that request.
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