S. 3029 — what changed
Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act
From Introduced in Senate to Reported in Senate. 1 section amended and 2 added between Introduced in Senate and Reported in Senate.
Sec. 2 Increasing death gratuity for Federal employees killed in the line of duty
Amendments to title 5, United States Code—
In general— Subchapter VII of chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“5571. Employee death gratuity payments
“(a) Definition
“(1) In general—Notwithstanding section 5561(2), in this section, the term employee means an individual who has been determined by the Secretary of Labor to be an employee within the meaning of section 8101(1), but not including any individual described in subparagraph (D) of section 8101(1).
“(2) Exclusive authority—A determination described in paragraph (1) may be made only by the Secretary of Labor.
“(b) Gratuity
“(1) In general—With respect to the death of an employee occurring on or after the date of enactment of this section, notwithstanding section 8116, and in addition to any payment made under subchapter I of chapter 81, the head of the agency employing the employee shall pay from appropriations made available for salaries and expenses of that agency a death gratuity to the person identified under subsection (c)(2), if the death of the employee—
“(A) results from injury sustained while in the line of duty of the employee; and
“(B) is not—
“(i) caused by willful misconduct of the employee;
“(ii) caused by the intention of the employee to bring about the injury or death of the employee or another; or
“(iii) proximately caused by the intoxication of the injured employee.
“(2) Amount
“(A) In general—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the amount of a death gratuity paid under paragraph (1) with respect to an employee shall be $100,000, as adjusted each March 1 by the amount determined by the Secretary of Labor to represent the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; United States city average) published for December of the preceding year over that Index published for the December of the year prior to the preceding year, adjusted to the nearest 1/10 of 1 percent.
“(B) Local compensation plans—For an employee compensated under a local compensation plan established under section 408 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3968), the amount of a death gratuity paid under paragraph (1) with respect to the employee shall be in an amount determined in rules issued by the Secretary of State.
“(c) Recipient of payment
“(1) Definition—In this subsection, the term child—
“(A) includes—
“(i) a natural child; and
“(ii) an adopted child; and
“(B) does not include a stepchild.
“(2) Order of precedence—A death gratuity paid under subsection (b) with respect to an employee shall be paid in the following order of precedence:
“(A)
“(i) To the beneficiary designated to receive the gratuity by the employee in a signed and witnessed writing that is received by the agency employing the employee before the date of the death of the employee.
“(ii) A designation, change, or cancellation of beneficiary in a will, or another document not described in clause (i), shall have no force or effect for the purposes of that clause.
“(B) If there is no beneficiary described in subparagraph (A), to the surviving spouse of the employee.
“(C) If neither subparagraph (A) nor (B) applies, to the children of the employee (including the descendant of any deceased child by representation) such that each such child receives an equal amount of the gratuity.
“(D) If none of subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) applies, to the surviving parents of the employee such that each such surviving parent receives an equal amount of the gratuity.
“(E) If none of subparagraphs (A) through (D) applies, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the employee.
“(F) If none of subparagraphs (A) through (E) applies, to the person entitled, under the laws of the State in which the employee is domiciled, as of the date on which the employee dies, to receive the payment.”
Repeal of death gratuity payment authority— Section 651 of the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. 8133 note) is repealed.
Technical and conforming amendments— The table of sections for chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—
by striking the item relating to subchapter VII and inserting the following:
by inserting after the item relating to section 5570 the following:
added
Additional technical and conforming amendment— The heading for subchapter VII of chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking “employees” and inserting “persons and payments for disability or death”.
Amendment to title 49— Section 40122(g)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (I)(iii), by striking “and” after the semicolon;
in subparagraph (J), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by inserting after subparagraph (J) the following:
“(K) section 5571, relating to death gratuities resulting from an injury sustained in the line of duty.”
Sec. 7 Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index
added
added
Employee death gratuity payments— Section 5571(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, is amended by striking “Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; United States city average)” and inserting “Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index”.
added
Death gratuity for injuries incurred in connection with employee’s service with an Armed Force— Paragraph (2) of section 8102a(a) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 4(1)(C) of this Act, is amended by striking “Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; United States city average)” and inserting “Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index”.
Sec. 8 Reporting requirements
added
added
In general—
added
Definition— In this subsection, the term agency has the meaning given the term in section 5561 of title 5, United States Code.
added
Requirement— If the head of an agency makes a death gratuity payment under section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, the agency head shall, not later than 15 business days after the date on which the agency head makes that payment, submit to the Comptroller General of the United States a notification regarding that payment.
added
GAO reports— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives a report regarding the aggregate amount of death gratuities paid under section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, during the year covered by the report.
added
Audit— Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall—
added
perform an audit regarding death gratuities paid under section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act;
added
as part of the audit performed under paragraph (1), determine the frequency with which future audits of the payments described in that paragraph shall occur; and
added
submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives the results of the audit performed under paragraph (1).