Bill Text - HB649 (2017)

Making emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members eligible for a death benefit if killed in the line of duty.


Revision: Jan. 25, 2017, 11:20 a.m.

HB 649-FN - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2017 SESSION

17-0034

08/09

 

HOUSE BILL 649-FN

 

AN ACT making emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members eligible for a death benefit if killed in the line of duty.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Proulx, Hills. 44

 

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill makes emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members eligible for a death benefit if 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

17-0034

08/09

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen

 

AN ACT making emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members eligible for a death benefit if killed in the line of duty.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Death Benefits; Emergency Medical Technicians and Rescue Squad Members Included.  Amend RSA 21-I:29-a, I(a)-(f) and II to read as follows:

(a)  "Adult child'' means a child, whether by blood or adoption, of the police officer or firefighter, age 18 or older at the time of death of such police officer or firefighter and who does not meet the definition of a dependent child.

(b)  "Dependent child'' means a child, whether by blood or adoption, of the police officer or firefighter who:

(1)  Is under the age of 25 and was dependent on the earnings of the police officer or firefighter at the time of death.  For the purposes of this subparagraph, a child is not considered dependent if the child provides more than half of his or her own support, is married, or is legally adopted by another; or

(2)  Is any age and is physically or mentally incapacitated and was dependent on the earnings of the police officer or firefighter at the time of death.

(c)  "Family'' means the surviving spouse of the police officer or firefighter who was wholly or partially dependent, in fact, upon the earnings of the police officer or firefighter; or, if there is no surviving spouse, the surviving dependent child or dependent children, of such police officer or firefighter or, if there is no surviving dependent child, a surviving person qualifying as a common-law spouse pursuant to RSA 457:39, or if there is no surviving common-law spouse, the surviving adult child or adult children, or if there is no surviving adult child or adult children, the surviving parent or parents of such police officer or firefighter.

(d)  "Emergency medical technician" means any emergency medical technician, including auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time, volunteer, call, or reserve emergency technician who is employed by a city, town, village district, or precinct within the state of New Hampshire, or any emergency medical technician who is a volunteer for or employed by a non-profit corporation in New Hampshire.

[(d)](e) "Firefighter'' means any firefighter, including auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time, volunteer, call, or reserve firefighters who are employed by a city, town, village district, or precinct within the state of New Hampshire, any firefighter employed by the state of New Hampshire, or any firefighter who is a volunteer for or employed by a non-profit corporation which is the primary provider of fire protection for all or part of a New Hampshire municipality.

[(e)] (f)  "Killed in the line of duty'' means a death of a police officer or firefighter 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.  "Incident'' shall include any death that is determined to be occupationally related by the worker's compensation insurance carrier, a self-insured worker's compensation plan, or by the labor commissioner for workers' compensation purposes pursuant to RSA 281-A.

[(f)](g)  "Police officer'' means any law enforcement officer with the power of arrest, including auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time, or reserve police officers, or sheriffs and their deputies who are employed by a city, town, village district, county, or precinct within the state of New Hampshire, police officers employed by the university system of New Hampshire, and any state law enforcement officer employed by the state of New Hampshire who has power of arrest as determined by state law.

(h)  "Rescue squad member" means any member of a rescue squad formed for the purposes of responding to a state of emergency as declared by the governor or as part of a search and rescue effort to recover a lost person.

II.  In addition to any other benefits provided under this chapter, the state treasurer shall pay a $100,000 death benefit to the family of a police officer, [or] firefighter, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member killed in the line of duty.  Payment to a dependent child under the age of 18 shall be made to the child's trustee for the benefit of the child.  The governor, with the consent of the executive council, is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

2  Emergency Medical Personnel and Rescue Squad Members; Death Benefits.  Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 21-I:29-a, III to read as follows:

III.  The commissioner of safety, upon notice from the family or chief of department of any firefighter, [or] police officer, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member who may be entitled to a line-of-duty death benefit or upon the commissioner's own initiative, shall obtain the available records related to the circumstances, cause, and manner of such death and the decedent's status as a firefighter, [or] police officer, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member, may cause further inquiry to be made, and shall make a determination of whether the death qualifies as a line-of-duty death and who is entitled to the death benefit.  The determination shall be made within 180 days of the determination of the cause and manner of death by the office of the chief medical examiner, or within 180 days from the date the commissioner received notice from the family or chief of department of the firefighter, [or] police officer, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member, whichever is later.  For deaths that are not reviewed by the office of the chief medical examiner, the determination shall be made within 180 days of a determination that the decedent qualifies for a workers' compensation death benefit by a worker's compensation carrier, self-insured worker's compensation plan, or the labor commissioner pursuant to RSA 281-A, or within 180 days from the date the commissioner received notice from the family or chief of department of the firefighter, [or] police officer, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member, whichever is later.

3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

 

LBAO

17-0034

1/20/17

 

HB 649-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

 

AN ACT making emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members eligible for a death benefit if killed in the line of duty.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [    ] County               [    ] Local              [    ] None

 

 

 

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2018

FY 2019

FY 2020

FY 2021

   Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Expenditures

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Funding Source:

  [ X ] General            [    ] Education            [    ] Highway           [    ] Other

 

 

 

 

 

METHODOLOGY:

The death benefit of $100,000 is currently paid to the families of police officers and fire fighters killed in the line of duty.  This bill would extend the benefit to emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members.   The Department of Safety cannot project the fiscal impact on state expenditures since it is unknown how many emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members may be killed in the line of duty.  The Department notes, under current law, three payments were made in FY 2013, and one payment each in FY 2014 and FY 2016.

 

The Department of Administrative Services does not have information on how many individuals  are emergency medical technicians or rescue squad members or statistics on how many individuals employed in these professions have been killed in the line of duty.  The Department expects the changes may impact the costs of administering the survivor benefit program.  

 

The New Hampshire Municipal Association did not identify any potential impact on local revenues or expenditures.

 

The Department of Justice states it would not be involved with awarding death benefits, therefore there is no fiscal impact.

 

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Departments of Safety, Administrative Services, and Justice, and New Hampshire Municipal Association