Posted by: jgomori Posted date: June 10, 2022

Register today for NAPO’s 44th Annual Convention and participate in setting NAPO’s legislative priorities for the 118th Congress. Learn from presentations by prominent law enforcement figures about the latest developments in police policies and services and help determine NAPO’s path forward. Click on the link below to register and for more information; On May 26, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the Public Safety Officer Support Act (S. 3635), moving this important legislation one step closer to enactment. The House passed the bill on May 18 by a significant bipartisan vote of 402-17. This legislation would make post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) a line of duty injury under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program and ensure officers who suffer from PTSD and those who take or attempt to take their own life as a result of on-duty trauma will be eligible under the program. The bill would also cover officers who die by trauma-linked suicide by directing the PSOB Program to presume that suicides are a result of job duties in certain circumstances; Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Thune (R- SD), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the Police and Fire Healthcare Protection Act (S. 4312) to improve the HELPS Retirees provision of the Pension Protection Act and ensure all public pension plans are able to implement it to the benefit of their public safety retirees. The HELPS Retirees provision provides public safety officers, who often retire earlier than other occupations because of the physical demands and unique job hazards, with means to more affordable healthcare. Many law enforcement retirees lose their employer-provided health insurance and are years away from being Medicare-eligible. Under the HELPS Retirees Act, qualified, retired public safety officers can use up to $3,000 annually from their pension funds tax-free to pay for qualified health insurance and long-term care insurance premiums; On May 18th, the House passed the bipartisan TBI and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act (H.R. 2992) by an overwhelming vote of 400-21. This bill would provide for much-needed additional training opportunities for law enforcement to improve officer response to persons affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). NAPO is working with Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the sponsors of the Senate version of this bill, S. 4286, on quickly moving it through the Senate and to the President’s desk; The City of Hurst has open Police Officer, Dispatch and Jailer positions; and NAPO’s updated “Sponsor/Cosponsor” spreadsheet and “Legislative Positions” documents, all available in the links below