HB 824-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
09/10
HOUSE BILL 824-FN
AN ACT establishing a death benefit to be paid to the family of a police officer, firefighter, or highway worker killed in the line of duty.
SPONSORS: Rep. P. McMahon, Merr 3; Rep. Foose, Merr 1; Rep. Marsh, Rock 17
This bill establishes a death benefit to be paid to the family of a police officer, firefighter, or highway worker killed in the line of duty.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07-1099
09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT establishing a death benefit to be paid to the family of a police officer, firefighter, or highway worker killed in the line of duty.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subdivision; Death Benefit for Police Officer, Firefighter, or Highway Worker Killed in Line of Duty. Amend RSA 100-A by inserting after section 55 the following new subdivision:
Death Benefit for Police Officer, Firefighter, or
Highway Worker Killed in Line of Duty
110-A:56 Death Benefit for Police Officer, Firefighter, or Highway Worker Killed in Line of Duty.
I. In this section:
(a) “Family” means the surviving spouse of the police officer, firefighter, or highway worker, or if there is no surviving spouse, the child or children of such police officer, firefighter, or highway worker or, if there is no surviving child, the parent or parents of such police officer, firefighter, or highway worker.
(b) “Highway worker” means any full-time or part-time public works and highway personnel, who are employed by a city or town within the state of New Hampshire or by the state of New Hampshire.
(c) “Killed in the line of duty” means a death of a police officer, firefighter, or highway worker while in the performance of his or her duties as a result of incident, accident, or violence causing death or injuries which are the direct or proximate cause of death.
(d) “Police officer” means any law enforcement officer with the power of arrest, including auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time, or reserve police officers who are employed by a city or town within the state of New Hampshire, or any state law enforcement officer employed by the state of New Hampshire who has power of arrest as determined by state law.
II. In addition to any other benefits provided under this chapter, the board shall pay the family of a police officer, firefighter, or highway worker killed in the line of duty on or after October 1, 2006, a $100,000 death benefit. The board, at its discretion, may purchase life insurance for the purpose of paying this death benefit. This death benefit shall not be taxable by the state of New Hampshire. The board may adopt appropriate rules to administer this death benefit.
III. This section shall be known as “Michael’s Law,” in honor of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs who was shot while on duty and died on October 17, 2006.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
07-1099
Revised 02/14/07
HB 824 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing a death benefit to be paid to the family of a police officer, firefighter, or highway worker killed in the line of duty.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The New Hampshire Retirement System states this bill will increase state, county, and local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. This bill will have no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The New Hampshire Retirement System states this bill will provide the families of police officers, firefighters and highway workers who are killed in the line of duty a $100,000 lump sum death benefit if the death occurs on or after October 1, 2006. The System’s actuary assumes that if a member retires with accidental disability benefits their family will be entitled to the $100,000 death benefit upon their death. The actuary also states the costs associated with this bill are based on the assumption the benefit will be funded directly by the System. The actuary states if the System funds the benefit through the purchase of insurance the cost will be the premiums charged by the insurance company, however this cost cannot be determined at this time. Data was not available on the number of highway workers included in the employee division. The actuary used the entire pool of employee division members when determining additional costs, but states once the number of highway workers is determined the employee division results can be pro-ratable by the number of highway workers by the total employee division members. Assuming an annual rate of return of 8.5 % and wage inflation of 5.5 % per year, the System estimated only for FY 2008 and FY 2009 the increase in employer contributions if the death benefit is funded directly by the System as follows:
Annual Payroll (in millions) |
Current Annual Employer Contribution (in millions) |
Estimated Change in Annual Employer Contributions (in millions) |
New Annual Employer Contributions (in millions) | |
Police |
||||
FY 2008 |
$221.5 |
$40.33 |
$0.33 |
$40.66 |
FY 2009 |
$233.6 |
$42.55 |
$0.35 |
$42.90 |
Fire |
||||
FY 2008 |
$91.0 |
$22.29 |
$0.11 |
$22.40 |
FY 2009 |
$96.0 |
$23.52 |
$0.12 |
$23.64 |
Highway Employees |
||||
FY 2008 |
$879.4 |
$76.86 |
$0.44 |
$77.30 |
FY 2009 |
$927.8 |
$81.09 |
$0.46 |
$81.55 |