[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2944 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 513
114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2944

 To require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers' Benefit 
                    program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 18, 2016

 Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Blunt, Mr. 
 Schumer, and Mr. Coons) introduced the following bill; which was read 
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

                              June 9, 2016

               Reported by Mr. Grassley, with amendments
  [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers' Benefit 
                    program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Officers' Benefits 
Improvement Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. REPORTS.

    Section 1205 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796c) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``Rules, regulations, 
        and procedures issued under this part may include regulations 
        based on standards developed by another Federal agency for 
        programs related to public safety officer death or disability 
        claims.'' after ``before the Bureau.''; before the last 
        sentence;
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``In making''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) In making a determination under section 1201, the Bureau 
shall give substantial weight to the evidence and all findings of fact 
presented by a State, local, or Federal administrative or investigative 
agency regarding eligibility for death or disability benefits.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e)(1)(A) Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, the Bureau shall make available on the public website 
of the Bureau information on all death, disability, and educational 
assistance claims submitted under this part that are pending as of the 
date on which the information is made available.
    ``(B) Not less frequently than once per week, the Bureau shall make 
available on the public website of the Bureau updated information with 
respect to all death, disability, and educational assistance claims 
submitted under this part that are pending as of the date on which the 
information is made available.
    ``(C) The information made available under this paragraph shall 
include--
            ``(i) for each pending claim--
                    ``(I) the date on which the claim was submitted to 
                the Bureau;
                    ``(II) the State of residence of the claimant;
                    ``(III) an anonymized, identifying claim number; 
                and
                    ``(IV) the nature of the claim; and
            ``(ii) the total number of pending claims that were 
        submitted to the Bureau more than 1 year before the date on 
        which the information is made available.
    ``(2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, and every 180 days thereafter, the Bureau shall submit 
to Congress a report on the death, disability, and educational 
assistance claims submitted under this part during the 180-day period 
preceding the report.
    ``(B) Each report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include 
information on--
            ``(i) the total number of claims, and the nature of each 
        claim, submitted to the Bureau;
            ``(ii) the number of claims for which a final determination 
        has been made;
            ``(iii) the number of claims for which a final 
        determination has not been reached and the basis for the delay;
            ``(iv) the amount of time required to process each claim 
        for which a final determination has been made  and, for any 
        claim which could not be processed within 1 year of being 
        submitted to the Bureau, the basis for any delay;
            ``(v) the number of claims submitted that are related to 
        exposure due to the September 11th, 2001, terrorism attacks and 
        the average award amount for any such claims for which a final 
        determination has been made;
            ``(vi) the result of each claim for which a final 
        determination was made during the 180-day period, including the 
        number of claims rejected and the basis for any denial of 
        benefits;
            ``(vii) the number of claims that were appealed for which a 
        final determination was made and appealed during the 180-day 
        period;
            ``(viii) the average number of claims processed per 
        reviewer of the Bureau; and
        <DELETED>    ``(ix) the average amount of time each agency 
        takes to submit all required information and documents to the 
        Bureau.</DELETED>
            ``(ix) information on the compliance of the Bureau with the 
        obligation to offset award amounts under section 1201(f)(3), 
        including--
                    ``(I) the number of claims that are eligible for 
                compensation under both this part and the September 
                11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 
                note; Public Law 107-42) (commonly referred to as the 
                `VCF');
                    ``(II) for each claim described in subclause (I) 
                for which compensation has been paid under the VCF, the 
                amount of compensation paid under the VCF;
                    ``(III) the number of claims described in subclause 
                (I) for which the Bureau has made a final 
                determination; and
                    ``(IV) the number of claims described in subclause 
                (I) for which the Bureau has not made a final 
                determination.
    ``(3) Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of the 
Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2016, and every 5 
years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            ``(A) conduct a study on the compliance of the Bureau with 
        the obligation to offset award amounts under section 
        1201(f)(3); and
            ``(B) submit to Congress a report on the study conducted 
        under subparagraph (A) that includes an assessment of whether 
        the Bureau has provided the information required under 
        subparagraph (B)(ix) of paragraph (2) of this subsection in 
        each report required under that paragraph.
    ``(3)(4) In this subsection, the term `nature of the claim' means 
whether the claim is a claim for--
            ``(A) benefits under this subpart with respect to the death 
        of a public safety officer;
            ``(B) benefits under this subpart with respect to the 
        disability of a public safety officer; or
            ``(C) education assistance under subpart 2.''.

SEC. 3. AGE LIMITATION FOR CHILDREN.

    Section 1212(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796d-1(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``No child'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), no child''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Delayed approvals.--
                    ``(A) Educational assistance application.--If a 
                claim for assistance under this subpart is approved 
                more than 1 year after the date on which the 
                application for such assistance is filed with the 
                Attorney General, the age limitation under this 
                subsection shall be extended by the length of the 
                period--
                            ``(i) beginning on the day after the date 
                        that is 1 year after the date on which the 
                        application is filed; and
                            ``(ii) ending on the date on which the 
                        application is approved.
                    ``(B) Claim for benefits for death or permanent and 
                total disability.--In addition to an extension under 
                subparagraph (A), if any, for an application for 
                assistance under this subpart that relates to a claim 
                for benefits under subpart 1 that was approved more 
                than 1 year after the date on which the claim was filed 
                with the Attorney General, the age limitation under 
                this subsection shall be extended by the length of the 
                period--
                            ``(i) beginning on the day after the date 
                        that is 1 year after the date on which the 
                        claim for benefits is submitted; and
                            ``(ii) ending on the date on which the 
                        claim for benefits is approved.''.

SEC. 4. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS.

    Subpart 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:

``SEC. 1206. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Bureau, with all due diligence, shall 
expeditiously attempt to obtain the information and documentation 
necessary to adjudicate a benefit claim filed under this part, 
including a claim for financial assistance under subpart 2.
    ``(b) Sufficient Information Unavailable.--If a benefit claim filed 
under this part, including a claim for financial assistance under 
subpart 2, is unable to be adjudicated by the Bureau because of a lack 
of information or documentation from a third party, such as a public 
agency, the Bureau may not abandon the benefit claim unless the Bureau 
has utilized the investigative tools available to the Bureau to obtain 
the necessary information or documentation, including subpoenas.''.

SEC. 5. PRESUMPTION THAT OFFICER ACTED PROPERLY.

    Section 1202 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796a) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``No benefit'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--No benefit''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Presumption.--In determining whether a benefit is payable 
under this part, the Bureau shall--
            ``(1) presume that none of the limitations described in 
        subsection (a) apply; and
            ``(2) have the burden of establishing by clear and 
        convincing evidence that a limitation described in subsection 
        (a) applies.''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall--
            (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
            (2) apply to any benefit claim or application under part L 
        of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
        1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) that is--
                    (A) pending before the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
                on the date of enactment; or
                    (B) received by the Bureau on or after the date of 
                enactment of this Act.
                                                       Calendar No. 513

114th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2944

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers' Benefit 
                    program, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              June 9, 2016

                        Reported with amendments