The bill expands eligibility for public safety officer benefits, requiring timely notification of missing claim information and providing interim benefits if determinations are delayed. It mandates outreach efforts and reporting on backlogged claims, and empowers the Bureau to issue subpoenas for necessary information. The bill also streamlines benefits for VCF and WTCHP determinations, and directs the implementation of GAO recommendations for the program. It aims to improve transparency, claims assistance, and program management for public safety officers' benefits.
Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program Expansion Act of 2026
This bill establishes processing timelines and expands claims assistance, outreach, and reporting requirements pertaining to claims for benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their survivors.
This bill requires the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to notify a claimant of any missing information required to process a claim within 90 days of receiving the claim and generally requires the BJA to determine eligibility within 270 days of a completed claim.
In addition, the bill requires the BJA to use its subpoena authority to obtain information or documentation that is necessary to adjudicate a claim if a public agency fails to provide it 30 days after a request.
Under the bill, the BJA must conduct ongoing outreach to promote awareness of the PSOB program. The BJA must also report on whether a delay in processing a claim was due to the inaction of the claimant or the public agency from which information is required.
The bill requires the BJA to implement the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in the 2024 report, Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program: Transparency, Claims Assistance, and Program Management Improvements Needed.
Finally, the GAO must conduct an annual audit of PSOB claims that have been pending for more than one year.