To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase death gratuities and funeral allowances for Federal employees, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
Creates a new $100,000 death gratuity for federal employees killed in the line of duty, increases the funeral expense limit from $800 to $8,800, adds inflation adjustments to all death gratuity amounts, and ensures that gratuities for employees killed abroad cannot be reduced by other federal benefits. Also establishes reporting and audit requirements for these payments.
Who Benefits and How
Families of federal employees killed in the line of duty receive substantially increased financial support. The $100,000 death gratuity is a major new benefit, and the funeral expense increase from $800 to $8,800 reflects decades of inflation. Foreign Service families benefit from provisions preventing gratuity offsets. All amounts are indexed to inflation.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal agencies must fund death gratuity payments from their existing salaries and expenses appropriations. The Secretary of Labor faces new administrative responsibilities for determining eligibility and CPI adjustments. The Comptroller General must conduct annual reporting and periodic audits of the new payments.
Key Provisions
- Establishes $100,000 death gratuity for federal employees killed in line of duty
- Increases funeral expense limit from $800 to $8,800 with annual inflation adjustments
- Adds CPI (later PCE) inflation indexing to all death gratuity amounts
- Prevents reduction of line-of-duty-abroad gratuities by other federal death benefits
- Requires emergency supplemental authorization if mass casualty events strain agency budgets
- Mandates annual GAO reporting and triennial audits of death gratuity payments
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Increases and modernizes death gratuity payments for federal employees killed in the line of duty, establishing a new $100,000 CPI-adjusted death gratuity, raising funeral expense limits, and ensuring gratuities for employees killed abroad are not reduced by other benefits.
Key Policy Areas
Federal Workforce, Government Operations, Foreign Service
Primary Purpose
Increases and modernizes death gratuity payments for federal employees killed in the line of duty, establishing a new $100,000 CPI-adjusted death gratuity, raising funeral expense limits, and ensuring gratuities for employees killed abroad are not reduced by other benefits.
Policy Domains
New Federal Employee Death Gratuity
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Families of federal employees killed in line of duty
- Federal employee unions and workforce advocates
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal agencies (funding from salaries and expenses)
- Secretary of Labor (administrative determinations)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Line of Duty Abroad Death Gratuity
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Families of federal employees killed abroad in line of duty
- Foreign Service personnel
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Executive agencies with personnel abroad
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Funeral Expense Increase
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Families of deceased federal employees
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal agencies funding worker compensation
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Armed Force Service Death Gratuity Updates
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Families of federal employees killed during armed force service
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal agencies
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Peters, with an amendment
Ms. Sinema (for herself, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Padilla, and Mr. …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Executive agencies with overseas personnel, Federal agencies, Federal agencies facing mass casualty events
Positive-direction: Federal agencies facing mass casualty events, Uncompensated diplomatic mission workers
Negative-direction: Executive agencies with overseas personnel, Federal agencies, Secretary of Labor
Families of federal employees killed abroad, Families of federal employees killed during armed force service, Families of federal employees killed in line of duty
Positive-direction: Families of federal employees killed abroad, Families of federal employees killed during armed force service, Families of federal employees killed in line of duty, Surviving spouses and children of federal employees
Negative-direction: Taxpayers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Agency heads"
- → payment authority
- "Secretary of Labor"
- → eligibility determiner
- "Secretary of Labor"
- → adjustment authority
- "Secretary of Labor"
- → CPI adjustment authority
- "Agency heads"
- → payment authority
- "Secretary of State"
- → guidance issuer
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
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.
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