Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to provide immediately for the payment of certain benefits to families of certain public safety employees killed in the line of duty, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 32 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 100 the following section:-

Section 100A. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other general or special law to the contrary, there shall be paid a killed-in-line-of-duty benefit, to be administered and paid for, subject to appropriation, by the state board of retirement.

(b) The state board of retirement shall adopt regulations to administer said benefit.

(c) The killed-in-line-of-duty benefit shall be a one-time award in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, payable to the family of a firefighter, police officer or corrections officer who while in the performance of his duties and as a result of incident, accident or violence, is killed or sustains injuries which are the direct and proximate cause of his death.

(d) The one hundred thousand dollar killed-in-line-of-duty benefit shall be in addition to amounts payable under section one hundred and shall be payable to the family of the deceased public safety employee in a manner determined by the state board of retirement. As used in this section, the word "family" shall mean the surviving spouse of such firefighter, police officer or corrections officer, or, if there is no surviving spouse, the child or children of such firefighter, police officer or corrections officer, or, if there is no surviving child, the parent or parents of such firefighter, police officer or corrections officer, if said parent or parents were at least fifty percent financially dependent upon such firefighter, police officer or corrections officer, in the year prior to the death of such firefighter, police officer or corrections officer. The board, at its discretion, may purchase life insurance for the purpose of paying said benefit.

(e) The presumptions created by sections ninety-four, ninety-four A and ninety-four B shall not apply to eligibility for the one hundred thousand dollar killed-in-line-of-duty benefit.

(f) The one hundred thousand dollar killed-in-line-of-duty benefit shall not be taxable by the commonwealth.

SECTION 2. This act shall apply in the case of a death occurring on or after September first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.