Compensation proposed for first responders’ families

Families of first responders killed in the line of duty would receive an additional benefit under a bill heard by the Business and Labor Committee Feb. 8.

LB836, introduced by Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, would provide monetary compensation to the family of a police officer, correctional officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty, including the family of those who work on a voluntary basis.

Mello said eight first responders have been killed while in the line of duty in the past 16 years.

“Every day thousands of officers go to work and put their lives in harm’s way for the sake of public safety,” he said. “We need to do everything we can to ensure the financial stability of their families.”

A qualifying family member must file for compensation within one year of the death of a law enforcement officer or firefighter. For responders killed in 2016, compensation provided would total $50,000. For each following year, the compensation would be equal to the previous year’s compensation multiplied by the consumer price index for all urban consumers.

Jason Cvitanov, Bellevue Police Officers Association president, spoke in favor of the bill.

“After the initial shock wears off, there’s a family left with a huge loss and a life they must return to,” Cvitanov said, adding that a first responder’s income often is a family’s only income.

Compensation first would be distributed to any person designated by the public safety officer to receive the compensation. If there is no designated person or that person is not alive at the time, compensation would be distributed according to a legally binding will.

In the absence of a legally binding will, compensation would be distributed first to a surviving spouse, surviving descendants, surviving parents or surviving siblings, in that order.

No one testified in opposition to the bill and the committee took no immediate action on it.