“A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to increase death gratuities and funeral allowances for Federal employees, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a death gratuity program under new 5 U.S.C. §5571 for federal employees (as defined by the Secretary of Labor under 5 U.S.C. 8101(1), excluding certain individuals) who die on or after enactment from injuries sustained in the line of duty (excluding cases of willful misconduct, intent to injure, or intoxication). The gratuity is $100,000 (adjusted annually each March 1 by the percentage change in the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index for December of the prior two years), payable by the employing agency from salaries and expenses appropriations in addition to any workers' compensation under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81; for employees compensated under local compensation plans established under section 408 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (i.e., prevailing wage plans for foreign service national employees and certain U.S. citizens abroad), the amount is determined by rules issued by the Secretary of State. Payments follow an order of precedence to a designated beneficiary, surviving spouse, natural or adopted children equally, surviving parents equally, the estate, or state law heirs. The section repeals prior death gratuity authority under section 651 of the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. 8133 note); makes technical and conforming amendments to the table of sections and heading for subchapter VII of 5 U.S.C. chapter 55; and amends 49 U.S.C. 40122(g)(2) to reference the new gratuity.
This section increases to $8,800 (from $800) the maximum amount payable for funeral and other expenses upon the death of a covered federal civilian employee due to a job-related injury or illness and requires annual adjustment of that amount on March 1 by the percentage determined by the Secretary of Labor under 5 U.S.C. §8146a (i.e., the cost-of-living adjustment for Federal Employees' Compensation Act benefits). The annual adjustment applies to deaths occurring on or after the date of enactment.
This section revises the death gratuity payable to survivors of federal employees who die from injuries incurred in connection with the employee's service with an Armed Force in a contingency operation (i.e., $100,000 (from up to $100,000), adjusted annually each March 1 by the percentage change in the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index for December of the prior two years, rounded to the nearest 1/10 of 1 percent); prohibits any reduction of the gratuity by other federal death gratuities for deaths occurring on or after enactment (previously, it was reduced by specified other gratuities); and directs payment to the decedent's estate if there are no eligible survivors or designated recipients.
This section revises the death gratuity for Foreign Service employees and certain executive agency personnel or uncompensated special category individuals who die abroad as a result of injuries sustained in the performance of duty. (The gratuity equals one year's salary at level II of the Executive Schedule or equivalent for locally compensated employees and previously was in addition to all other benefits.) Specifically, the section (1) replaces references to "dependents" or "survivors" with "surviving beneficiaries," defined pursuant to the order of precedence in 5 U.S.C. §5571(c)(2); (2) conditions payment on a determination by the Secretary of Labor that the death resulted from a work-related injury (excluding proximately employment-caused disease) under 5 U.S.C. §8102; (3) for deaths on or after enactment of the Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act, offsets the gratuity by any amount paid under the federal civilian employee death gratuity at 5 U.S.C. §5571 for the same death; and (4) strikes the prior condition tying eligibility to potential monthly compensation under 5 U.S.C. §8133. (Thus, the changes align eligibility, beneficiaries, and payments with the Federal Employees' Compensation Act and civilian death gratuity to prevent duplication.)
This section authorizes supplemental appropriations, as necessary and with OMB concurrence, for agencies to make additional payments under covered death benefit provisions—namely, 5 U.S.C. §5571 (civilian employee death gratuities, as added by section 2), 5 U.S.C. §8102a (FECA payments to certain students, as amended by section 4), and 22 U.S.C. §3973 (Foreign Service death gratuities, as amended by section 5)—if a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other incident results in the agency's inability to make such payments. Payments may be made only to the extent additional funds are appropriated. It expresses the sense of Congress that Congress act on related supplemental requests within 30 days.
This section requires the head of an agency (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5561) to notify the Comptroller General of the United States within 15 business days after making a death gratuity payment under 5 U.S.C. 5571 (as added by section 2 of this Act). It further directs the Comptroller General to (1) submit to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter, a report on the aggregate amount of such payments made during the covered year; and (2) not later than three years after enactment, conduct an audit of such payments—including a determination of the frequency of future audits—and submit the results to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.