Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program Expansion Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program Expansion Act sets deadlines for the Bureau of Justice Assistance to process Public Safety Officers' Benefits claims. Missing information must be identified within 90 days, and a complete claim must receive an eligibility determination within 270 days. If the Bureau misses the 270-day deadline, it must issue one interim payment to an undisputed beneficiary or place the payment in escrow when beneficiary status remains unresolved. The payment is credited against the final award and generally cannot be recouped except for fraud or material misrepresentation.
The Bureau must conduct continuing outreach to public safety officers, disabled officers, underserved agencies, and fallen-officer families. It must report backlog-delay information, while GAO annually audits claims pending more than one year. When a public agency fails to provide necessary records within 30 days, the Bureau must issue a subpoena unless it grants an extension of no more than 60 days. A complete claim must contain required claimant and agency documents and have a Bureau claim number.
The bill creates a half benefit for an officer who becomes permanently, but not totally, disabled by a line-of-duty injury and cannot perform gainful public-safety work. If the condition becomes total within three years, the officer may seek the full benefit minus the prior payment. If the officer later dies from the same injury, the death benefit is reduced by the partial-disability payment. Temporary disabilities are excluded. Existing discretionary interim payments are raised to as much as $6,000, with statutory adjustment.
For death claims, the Bureau generally must accept a qualifying factual certification from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund or World Trade Center Health Program unless it has clear and convincing contrary evidence. The Attorney General must ensure implementation of a specified 2024 GAO reform report within 180 days.
Who Benefits and How
Claimants and fallen-officer families gain notice deadlines, interim cash, backlog oversight, and stronger access to missing agency records. Permanently partially disabled officers and medically retired officers gain a new half benefit. Officers whose conditions progress may obtain the full award after an offset. Eligible 9/11 responder families gain a favorable approval presumption based on VCF or WTCHP certification. Disabled officers and underserved agencies gain recurring outreach.
Who Bears the Burden and How
BJA claims staff must track deadlines, issue interim payments, expand outreach, use subpoenas, and apply new disability rules. Public agencies must supply records or face compulsory process. GAO must conduct annual backlog audits, and the Attorney General must oversee reform implementation. Federal benefit accounts bear additional interim, partial-disability, and expedited death payments. Claimants remain responsible for completing required submissions, and ineligible claims may still be denied.
Key Provisions
- Requires missing-information notices within 90 days.
- Requires eligibility decisions within 270 days after a complete claim.
- Requires one interim payment when the decision deadline is missed.
- Protects interim payments from recoupment except for fraud or material misrepresentation.
- Requires continuing outreach and annual backlog audits.
- Requires subpoenas when public agencies do not provide needed records.
- Creates a half benefit for qualifying permanent partial disability.
- Allows progression to total-disability benefits within three years.
- Requires approval based on specified VCF or WTCHP certifications absent strong contrary evidence.
- Requires implementation of the 2024 GAO recommendations within 180 days.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands and accelerates Public Safety Officers' Benefits by imposing claim deadlines and interim payments, covering permanent partial disability that prevents public-safety work, recognizing specified 9/11 certifications, and requiring audits, subpoenas, outreach, and GAO-recommended reforms.
Key Policy Areas
Public Safety Officer Benefits, Disability Benefits, Fallen Officer Families, September 11 Claims, Claims Administration
Primary Purpose
Expands and accelerates Public Safety Officers' Benefits by imposing claim deadlines and interim payments, covering permanent partial disability that prevents public-safety work, recognizing specified 9/11 certifications, and requiring audits, subpoenas, outreach, and GAO-recommended reforms.
Policy Domains
Section 5 implementation of GAO recommendations
Identified Gains
- Public Safety Officers' Benefits claimants
- Disabled public safety officers seeking claims assistance
- Fallen-officer families seeking transparency
- Congressional public-safety oversight committees
Identified Costs
- BJA program-management staff
- BJA claims-assistance staff
- Attorney General oversight staff
- BJA implementation-reporting staff
Section 2 deadlines, interim payments, outreach, audits, and subpoenas
Identified Gains
- PSOB claimants with complete claims
- Undisputed beneficiaries waiting beyond 270 days
- Families with unresolved beneficiary status
- Disabled public safety officers
- Families of fallen officers
- Underserved public safety agencies
Identified Costs
- BJA public-safety benefit processors
- Public agencies holding claim records
- GAO claims-backlog auditors
- BJA claimant-outreach staff
- Federal public-safety benefit accounts
- Claimants completing required submissions
Section 3 permanent partial-disability benefits
Identified Gains
- Permanently partially disabled public safety officers
- Medically retired public safety officers
- Officers progressing to total disability
- Officers receiving need-based interim payments
- Survivors eligible after a later line-of-duty death
Identified Costs
- Federal public-safety disability accounts
- BJA disability adjudicators
- Public safety agencies documenting medical retirement
- Temporary-disability claimants outside the expansion
- Later death-benefit recipients subject to offsets
Section 4 VCF and WTCHP certification treatment
Identified Gains
- VCF-certified public-safety officer families
- WTCHP-certified public-safety officer families
- September 11 responder survivors
- Claimants avoiding duplicate medical proof
Identified Costs
- Federal public-safety death-benefit accounts
- BJA certification-review staff
- BJA staff developing contrary evidence
- VCF certification staff
- World Trade Center Health Program staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Mr. Weber of Texas (for himself and Mr. Min) introduced …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Claimants avoiding duplicate medical proof, Disabled public safety officers, Disabled public safety officers seeking claims assistance
Positive-direction: Claimants avoiding duplicate medical proof, Disabled public safety officers, Disabled public safety officers seeking claims assistance, Fallen-officer families seeking transparency, Families of fallen officers, Families with unresolved beneficiary status, Medically retired public safety officers, Officers progressing to total disability, Officers receiving need-based interim payments, PSOB claimants with complete claims, Permanently partially disabled public safety officers, Public Safety Officers' Benefits claimants, September 11 responder survivors, Undisputed beneficiaries waiting beyond 270 days, VCF-certified public-safety officer families, WTCHP-certified public-safety officer families
Negative-direction: Temporary-disability claimants outside the expansion
Attorney General oversight staff, BJA certification-review staff, BJA claimant-outreach staff
Positive-direction: BJA certification-review staff, BJA staff developing contrary evidence, Federal public-safety death-benefit accounts
Negative-direction: Attorney General oversight staff, BJA claimant-outreach staff, BJA claims-assistance staff, BJA disability adjudicators, BJA program-management staff, BJA public-safety benefit processors, Federal public-safety benefit accounts, Federal public-safety disability accounts, GAO claims-backlog auditors
Public agencies holding claim records, Public safety agencies documenting medical retirement
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "auditor"
- → Comptroller General
- "claimant"
- → Person filing a Public Safety Officers' Benefits claim
- "processor"
- → Bureau of Justice Assistance claims staff
- "records_agency"
- → Public agency holding claim information
- "agency"
- → Public safety agency documenting medical retirement
- "officer"
- → Permanently disabled public safety officer
- "survivor"
- → Beneficiary of a later death claim
- "adjudicator"
- → Bureau of Justice Assistance disability claims staff
- "claimant"
- → Beneficiary presenting a qualifying certification
- "certifier"
- → VCF or World Trade Center Health Program
- "adjudicator"
- → Bureau of Justice Assistance claims staff
- "beneficiary"
- → Public Safety Officers' Benefits claimant
- "implementer"
- → Bureau of Justice Assistance Director
- "oversight_official"
- → Attorney General
Note: {'scope_ids': ['psob_partial_disability'], 'description': 'The new half benefit covers permanent inability to continue public-safety work but excludes temporary disability and preserves separate full-benefit eligibility subject to offsets.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Gainful work activity as defined under 20 C.F.R. 416.972 or a successor regulation.
A claim containing all required claimant and agency documents that has been assigned a Bureau claim number.
A single payment to an undisputed beneficiary or escrow account when BJA misses the complete-claim decision deadline, credited against the final award.
A permanent line-of-duty physical or mental impairment that is not total but prevents the officer from performing any gainful work as a public safety officer.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology