REP PRESSING TO COVER ALL PUBLIC WORKERS WITH DEATH BENEFIT

From the State House News Service 10/29/15

Line of duty death benefits afforded to public safety officials like police officers and firefighters should be extended to all public employees in Massachusetts, according to a state representative and public employee union official, who cite cases of families struggling in the wake of deaths of their loved ones.

Rep. Jay Livingstone and Jim Durkin, legislative director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), say extending the benefit is a matter of fairness.

After testifying this week before the Public Service Committee on the proposal, Durkin described cases where families without line of duty death benefits struggled economically after a New Bedford water department mechanic and a Natick public works employee were crushed to death by heavy equipment and a Department of Mental Health worker died of a heart attack two weeks after being attacked by a patient.

"Their families deserve some compensation," said Durkin, adding that everyone should be treated equally when it comes to losing one's life on the job. "It's a matter of respect for all public employees."

"This can happen to anybody, where they're doing their job and they pass away in the line of duty" said Livingstone, who noted lawmakers recently raised the current line of duty death benefit from $100,000 to $150,000 after two firefighters were killed battling a blaze in Boston.

Five state representatives have signed on as cosponsors of the bill (H 2364), which is backed in the Senate by Sen. Will Brownsberger, co-chair of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.

Livingstone and Durkin said they did not have an estimate of how many employees would likely receive the benefit or its potential cost. - Michael Norton/SHNS