Revision: July 9, 2019, 12:17 p.m.
HB 224-FN - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
14Feb2019... 0006h
05/02/2019 1653s
27Jun2019... 2651-EBA
2019 SESSION
19-0327
01/04
HOUSE BILL 224-FN
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14Feb2019... 0006h
05/02/2019 1653s
27Jun2019... 2651-EBA 19-0327
01/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen
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, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member, age 18 or older at the time of death of such police officer, [or] firefighter, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member, 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, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member who:
(1) Is under the age of 25 and was dependent on the earnings of the police officer, [or] firefighter, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member 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, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member at the time of death.
(c) "Family'' means the surviving spouse of the police officer, [or] firefighter, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member who was wholly or partially dependent, in fact, upon the earnings of the police officer [or] firefighter, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member 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, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member.
(d) "Emergency medical technician" means all levels of emergency medical technician, including emergency medical responders, emergency medical technicians, advanced emergency medical technicians, and paramedics, whether auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time, volunteer, call, or reserve, 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 nonprofit corporation in New Hampshire, or any emergency medical technician employed by a New Hampshire licensed private ambulance service while in the performance of emergency medical services pursuant to RSA 153-A:2, VI either under contract or agreement with a city, town, village, or precinct.
[(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, emergency medical technician, or rescue squad member 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, court security officers and bailiffs, 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 under the supervision of the fish and game department 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.
19-0327
Amended 5/6/19
HB 224-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE (AMENDMENT #2019-1653s)
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2020 | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 |
Appropriation | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill expands the eligibility of a $100,000 line-of-duty death benefit, currently for police officers and fire fighters, to emergency medical technicians and rescue squad members. To the extent an eligible individual is killed in the line-of-duty, general fund appropriations and expenditures would increase.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Departments of Fish and Game and Safety