The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Feb. 25 that retroactive benefits payments have started to be issued and beneficiaries impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and/or the Government Pension Offset (GPO) will begin receiving their full benefits. By the end of March, a one-time payment will be made for the retroactive benefits, which repay the Social Security benefits lost to GPO and WEP back to January 2024. Most impacted beneficiaries will begin receiving their increased GPO and WEP-free Social Security benefits in April.
On Feb. 25, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients with Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information. This executive order will enhance hospital and drug pricing transparency by requiring the disclosure of the actual prices of items and services, updating guidance and regulations to ensure pricing information is standardized and easily comparable across hospitals and health plans, and issuing updated enforcement policies to improve compliance.
On Feb. 26, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Laura Gillen (D-NY), and Dan Goldman (D-NY) reintroduced the 9/11 Responders and Survivors Health Funding Correction Act, which would permanently fund the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP). Port Authority Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President and NAPO Executive Board Member, Frank Conti, spoke at the press conference on the urgent need to fully and permanently fund the program.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved its version of the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act (S. 331) on Feb. 27. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) started floor consideration of the bill by invoking cloture to limit debate on the bill, which succeeded March 6 by a bipartisan 82-12 vote. The HALT Fentanyl Act would make permanent the current classwide scheduling of all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, giving law enforcement needed tools and resources to combat and deter fentanyl in our nation’s communities.
The House passed its budget resolution Feb. 25, which would allow for up to $4.5 trillion in extended tax cuts and new tax breaks but does not specify what those tax cuts and breaks will be. It requires Congress to cut $2 trillion from federal spending over the next 10 years, raises the nation's borrowing limit by $4 trillion, and provides up to $200 billion in border security funding and up to $100 billion in defense funding.
On March 4, NAPO participated in a press conference held by Congresswoman Linda Sánchez (D-CA) in support of her bill, the Close the De Minimis Loophole Act (H.R. 1840). This legislation is the strongest and most comprehensive bill yet in addressing the loophole. It would end de minimis immediately for China and within 4 months for every other country.
NAPO met with the majority and minority staff of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to discuss the pro-law enforcement legislation we want to see moved during National Police Week 2025. NAPO discussed the need for legislation to enhance officer safety by increasing penalties for the murder, attempted murder, or assault of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, the LEOSA Reform Act, a bill to cover exposure-related cancers under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program, and the Reauthorizing Support and Treatment for Officers in Crisis Act. In his address to a Joint Session of Congress on March 4, President Trump called on lawmakers to pass a bill that would mandate the death penalty in cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer. There are several bills already introduced that would do this, including the NAPO-backed the Thin Blue Line Act and the Justice for Fallen Law Enforcement Act. NAPO strongly believes increased penalties for the murder, attempted murder, or assault of a federal, state or local law enforcement officer will deter such crimes and bring greater protections to officers and the communities they serve. We feel Congress must act on the President’s call to action and make one of these bills a National Police Week priority.
NAPO’s Jan. 14, 2025 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland about our concerns with the complete lack of due process for law enforcement officers before their names are added to the National Decertification Index was referenced in a Feb. 20, 2025 Washington Post article entitled, “Justice Department Deletes Database Tracking Federal Police Misconduct”. The article reports on the deletion of the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD) from the Department of Justice (DOJ) website as a result of President Trump repealing the President Biden executive order on police reform.
The following NAPO priority bills were introduced: Invest to Protect Act, the Fighting PTSD Act, and the Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program Reauthorization Act. The Invest to Protect Act (S. 768) would create a broad grant program through the DOJ for small state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies giving them resources to train their officers, provide mental health resources for their officers, and retain and hire officers. The reintroduced Fighting PTSD Act (S. 825) would require the Attorney General to propose a program for making treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder available to all federal, state, and local public safety officers. The reintroduced Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program Reauthorization Act (H. 1726) would reauthorize this important grant program for 5 years, ensuring state and local law enforcement can continue to fight gang and firearms-related violent crimes in the most efficient and effective manner.
For more details, please click here for the March 7, 2025 Washington Report.
