ANNAPOLIS, MD - Benefits paid to the family of a public safety person killed in the line of duty will increase if legislation passes the Maryland General Assembly.
The bill would increase the death benefit from $50,000 to between $100,000 and $125,000.
Among the public safety personnel listed include volunteer fire and rescue squad members, law enforcement and correctional officers and sworn members of the state fire marshals office. The benefits would be paid to a spouse, child, dependent parent or estate.
The attached fiscal note indicates it would involve $5.6 million from the state's general fund in fiscal '07.
Firefighters or officers who suffer fatal strokes or heart attacks must have been involved in stressful duty or within 24 hours of that activity.
"We certainly support this bill," said C. Daniel Davis, legislative liaison for the Maryland State Firemen's Association. "I think it has a good chance."
Senator Donald Munson said he introduced the legislation to boost the death benefit after learning that the family of a Maryland correctional officer shot and killed earlier this year received only about $58,000. "I didn't realize how low it was," he said, adding that it's important that the surviving loved ones are taken care of.
The bill, if passed, will be retroactive in order to include the family of Corrections Officer Jeffrey A. Wroten, 44, killed at Washington County Hospital while guarding a prison inmate.
The measure is expected to go before the entire General Assembly later this week.
Related: Maryland Corrections Officer Dies of Injuries
