[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 419 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.419
One Hundred Fifteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and seventeen
An Act
To require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers' Benefits
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 2017''.
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.'' 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.
``(3) If the head of a State, local, or Federal administrative or
investigative agency, in consultation with the principal legal officer
of the agency, provides a certification of facts regarding eligibility
for death or disability benefits, the Bureau shall adopt the factual
findings, if the factual findings are supported by substantial
evidence.''; 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) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
subsection, the Bureau shall publish on the public website of the
Bureau a report, and shall update such report on such website not less
than once every 180 days thereafter, containing--
``(A) the total number of claims for which a final
determination has been made during the 180-day period preceding the
report;
``(B) the amount of time required to process each claim for
which a final determination has been made during the 180-day period
preceding the report;
``(C) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding the
report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau on or
before that date for which a final determination has not been made;
``(D) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding the
report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau on or
before the date that is 1 year before that date for which a final
determination has not been made;
``(E) for each claim described in subparagraph (D), a detailed
description of the basis for delay;
``(F) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding the
report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau on or
before that date relating to exposure due to the September 11th,
2001, terrorism attacks for which a final determination has not
been made;
``(G) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding the
report, the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau on or
before the date that is 1 year before that date relating to
exposure due to the September 11th, 2001, terrorism attacks for
which a final determination has not been made;
``(H) for each claim described in subparagraph (G), a detailed
description of the basis for delay;
``(I) the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau
relating to exposure due to the September 11th, 2001, terrorism
attacks for which a final determination was made during the 180-day
period preceding the report, and the average award amount for any
such claims that were approved;
``(J) the result of each claim for which a final determination
was made during the 180-day period preceding the report, including
the number of claims rejected and the basis for any denial of
benefits;
``(K) the number of final determinations which were appealed
during the 180-day period preceding the report, regardless of when
the final determination was first made;
``(L) the average number of claims processed per reviewer of
the Bureau during the 180-day period preceding the report;
``(M) for any claim submitted to the Bureau that required the
submission of additional information from a public agency, and for
which the public agency completed providing all of the required
information during the 180-day period preceding the report, the
average length of the period beginning on the date the public
agency was contacted by the Bureau and ending on the date on which
the public agency submitted all required information to the Bureau;
``(N) for any claim submitted to the Bureau for which the
Bureau issued a subpoena to a public agency during the 180-day
period preceding the report in order to obtain information or
documentation necessary to determine the claim, the name of the
public agency, the date on which the subpoena was issued, and the
dates on which the public agency was contacted by the Bureau before
the issuance of the subpoena; and
``(O) 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 clause (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 clause (i) for
which the Bureau has made a final determination; and
``(iv) the number of claims described in clause (i) for
which the Bureau has not made a final determination.
``(3) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this
subsection, and 2 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.
``(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, and such information is not readily available to the claimant,
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--
``(1) shall presume that none of the limitations described in
subsection (a) apply; and
``(2) shall not determine that a limitation described in
subsection (a) applies, absent clear and convincing evidence.''.
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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.