This bill — the Public Safety Officer Pandemic Response Act of 2020 — would allow public safety officers who contract coronavirus (COVID-19) in the line of duty and become disabled or die from the illness can receive benefits from the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit (PSOB) program in the Dept. of Justice (DOJ). Public safety officers would be eligible if they contracted COVID-19 in the line of duty between January 20, 2020, and one year after the president’s emergency declaration concludes.
Additionally, this bill would clarify that public safety officers who were injured or disabled in the line of duty in relation to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and also contracted COVID-19 in the line of duty will be eligible to receive benefits under the PSOB program.