Title: Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act of 2018
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gilbert Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act of 2018
This bill makes changes to benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers and survivors of public safety officers who are killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
Among other things, the bill increases the death and disability benefit and increases the monthly education assistance benefit.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5060 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5060

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 15, 2018

  Mr. Ruiz (for himself and Mr. Cook) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee 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 Representatives 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 2018''.

SEC. 2. AMOUNT OF BENEFIT INCREASED.

    Section 1201(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control 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 BENEFIT.

    (a) Disability Benefit.--Section 1201(b) 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 
occurred'' and inserting the following: ``with respect to the date that 
a determination is made to make such payment''.
    (b) Death Benefit.--Section 1201(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 the 
following: ``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 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 the following: ``shall be computed on the 
basis set forth in section 1219''.

SEC. 5. COMPUTATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE.

    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 assistance on behalf of 
        an eligible person who is pursuing a program of education 
        consisting of institutional courses shall be paid at the 
        monthly rate of $2,000 for full-time, $1,600 for three-quarter-
        time, or $1,160 for half-time pursuit.
            ``(2) Less than half-time basis.--The financial assistance 
        on behalf of an eligible person pursuing a program of education 
        on less than a half-time basis shall be paid at the rate of the 
        lesser of--
                    ``(A) the established charges for tuition and fees 
                that the educational institution involved requires 
                similarly circumstanced noneligible persons enrolled in 
                the same program to pay; or
                    ``(B) $788 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 with the training in 
the business or industrial establishment being strictly supplemental to 
the institutional portion, shall be computed at the rate of $2,000 per 
month.
    ``(c) Farm Cooperative.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible person who is enrolled in an 
        educational institution for a `farm cooperative' program 
        consisting of institutional agricultural courses prescheduled 
        to fall within 44 weeks of any period of 12 consecutive months 
        and who pursues such program on--
                    ``(A) a full-time basis (a minimum of 10 clock 
                hours per week or 440 clock hours in such year 
                prescheduled to provide not less than 80 clock hours in 
                any three-month period);
                    ``(B) a three-quarter-time basis (a minimum of 
                seven clock hours per week); or
                    ``(C) a half-time basis (a minimum of five clock 
                hours per week),
        shall be eligible to receive financial assistance at the 
        appropriate rate provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, 
        if such eligible person is concurrently engaged in agricultural 
        employment which is relevant to such institutional agricultural 
        courses as determined under standards prescribed by the 
        Attorney General. In computing the foregoing clock hour 
        requirements there shall be included the time involved in field 
        trips and individual and group instruction sponsored and 
        conducted by the educational institution through a duly 
        authorized instructor of such institution in which the person 
        is enrolled.
            ``(2) Monthly amounts.--The monthly financial assistance to 
        be paid on behalf of an eligible person pursuing a farm 
        cooperative program under this subpart shall be $636 for full-
        time, $477 for three-quarter-time, or $319 for half-time 
        pursuit.
    ``(d) Programs in Republic of Philippines.--If a program of 
education is pursued by an eligible person at an institution located in 
the Republic of the Philippines, the financial assistance computed for 
such person under this section shall be paid at the rate of $0.50 for 
each dollar.
    ``(e) Licensing or Certification.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (3), the amount of 
        financial assistance payable under this subpart for a licensing 
        or certification test described in section 3501(a)(5) of title 
        38, United States Code, is the lesser of $2,000 or the fee 
        charged for the test.
            ``(2) Number of months.--The number of months of 
        entitlement charged in the case of any individual for such 
        licensing or certification test is equal to the number 
        (including any fraction) determined by dividing the total 
        amount paid to such individual for such test by the full-time 
        monthly institutional rate of the financial assistance which, 
        except for paragraph (1), such individual would otherwise be 
        paid under this subpart.
            ``(3) Limitation.--In no event shall payment of financial 
        assistance under this subsection for such a test exceed the 
        amount of the individual's available entitlement under this 
        subpart.
    ``(f) National Tests for Admission.--
            ``(1) National test for admission.--Subject to paragraph 
        (3), the amount of financial assistance payable under this 
        subpart for 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, is the amount of the fee charged for the 
        test.
            ``(2) Number of months.--The number of months of 
        entitlement charged in the case of any individual for a test 
        described in paragraph (1) is equal to the number (including 
        any fraction) determined by dividing the total amount of 
        financial assistance paid such individual for such test by the 
        full-time monthly institutional rate of financial assistance, 
        except for paragraph (1), such individual would otherwise be 
        paid under this subpart.
            ``(3) Limitation.--In no event shall payment of financial 
        assistance under this subsection for a test described in 
        paragraph (1) exceed the amount of the individual's available 
        entitlement under this subpart.
    ``(g) Definitions.--Terms used in this section have the meanings 
given such terms in section 3501 of title 38, United States Code.
    ``(h) 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.

    The Comptroller General of the United States shall study and 
identify ways to improve access to and the processing of claims under 
the Public Safety Officers' Benefit program (34 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 10281-
10308). In particular, the Comptroller General shall examine:
            (1) factors that may hinder access to the Public Safety 
        Officers' Education Assistance benefit, such as lack of 
        awareness, delays in the application process, or the timely 
        processing of deaths and disability claims; and
            (2) the extent to which eligibility is communicated to 
        officers upon employment and to eligible family members 
        following the loss of a covered officer.
Within 3 years of the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General shall issue a report, along with any recommendations, to the 
Senate Committee on the Judiciary; House Judiciary Committee; Senate 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and House 
Committee on Education and the Workforce.
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