Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program Expansion Act of 2026
Official title: A bill to revise administrative procedures relating to public safety officers' death benefits, and for other purposes.
Amendments propose changes to this bill. Members vote on amendments separately before the final bill vote. An agreed amendment becomes part of the bill; a failed amendment does not.
1 agreed to
| Amendment | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|
| SAMDT 6,764 | Gillibrand, Kirsten E. | Agreed to |
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Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program Expansion Act of 2026
This bill establishes processing timelines and expands claims assistance, outreach, and reporting requirements pertaining to claims for benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their survivors.
This bill requires the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to notify a claimant of any missing information required to process a claim within 90 days of receiving the claim and generally requires the BJA to determine eligibility within 270 days of a completed claim.
In addition, the bill requires the BJA to use its subpoena authority to obtain information or documentation that is necessary to adjudicate a claim if a public agency fails to provide it 30 days after a request.
Under the bill, the BJA must conduct ongoing outreach to promote awareness of the PSOB program. The BJA must also report on whether a delay in processing a claim was due to the inaction of the claimant or the public agency from which information is required.
The bill requires the BJA to implement the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in the 2024 report, Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program: Transparency, Claims Assistance, and Program Management Improvements Needed.
Finally, the GAO must conduct an annual audit of PSOB claims that have been pending for more than one year.
- Engrossed in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
- Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
- Reported to Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
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Bodies those filers lobbied
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- SENATE
- Justice, Dept of (DOJ)
- Labor, Dept of (DOL)
- White House Office
- Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)
- President of the U.S.
- Commerce, Dept of (DOC)
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 3897: Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program Expansion Act of 2026. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3897/
"S. 3897: Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program Expansion Act of 2026." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3897/.
S. 3897, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3897/.
[S. 3897: Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program Expansion Act of 2026](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3897/)