On National First Responders Day, Ruiz Helps Pass Reforms to Support Officers and Their Families

Washington, D.C. – Today, on National First Responders Day, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) is calling for the House to take up his legislation, the Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gil Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act and voted to pass additional bills to support first responders. On Wednesday, Ruiz voted to pass two bills that deliver on his long-standing commitment to support the mental health needs of law enforcement officers and ensure families of fallen or injured first responders receive the benefits they deserve.

• The Confidentiality Opportunities for peer Support (COPS) Counseling Act, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan agreement, expands support for law enforcement peer counseling programs across the country by guaranteeing confidentiality for offices utilizing the program.

• The Protecting America's First Responders Act, which includes portions of Ruiz's Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gil Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act, would improve the Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) program so that law enforcement families do not miss out on thousands of dollars in benefits while waiting for their application to be processed and also makes additional first responders eligible for the program.

During debate on these measures on Wednesday, Ruiz took to the House floor to advocate for House passage of his legislation named in honor of fallen Palm Springs Police Department Officers Zerebny and Vega.

"Improving the PSOB program has been a long-standing priority of mine," Dr. Ruiz said on the House floor. "In fact, today's legislation includes a provision from my bill, the Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gil Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act, which fixes the benefit determination date so that families don't lose out on thousands of dollars because of bureaucratic delays. In addition to passing today's legislation, we must also increase the PSOB death and disability benefit to get our law enforcement families the benefits they deserve."

BACKGROUND

Earlier this year, Ruiz introduced the Heroes Lesley Zerebny and Gil Vega First Responders Survivors Support Act in honor of fallen Palm Springs Police Department Officers Lesley Zarebny and Gil Vega, who were killed in the line of duty in 2017. The bill makes four key changes to the PSOB Program.

1. Increases the PSOB death and disability benefit from $370,376 to $550,000
2. Fixes the benefit determination date by setting it to the date of disbursement rather than the date of death
3. Increases the education benefit from $1,265 to $2,200 and sets the inflation rate to reflect the actual cost of rising tuition
4. Authorizes a GAO study to identify ways to improve access and utilization of the PSOB education benefit.

The PSOB Program was established in 1976 to encourage more people to enter the public safety officer workforce by providing them with assurances that their families will receive a robust death benefit if they lose their life in the line of duty.

Collaborating with local law enforcement, Ruiz has also consistently fought to increase our nation's investment in mental health support for law enforcement officers. In last year's appropriations legislation, Ruiz successfully doubled the amount of funding for the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) Program.

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