TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Fred H. Madden and Steve Sweeney, which would provide workers’ compensation benefits to surviving spouses of police officers or firefighters who die in the line of duty was approved today by the Senate Labor Committee.
“When a person dies in the line of duty, he or she pays the ultimate price in an effort to protect the health and well-being of members of the public,” said Senator Madden, D-Camden and Gloucester. “This legislation is about helping to provide benefits for the other victims of these tragic events – the families who lose a loved one. These benefits allow spouses to move on financially – we owe this to them.”
“This bill is about helping to protect the people who are left behind after a police officer or firefighter is killed in the line of duty – the spouses,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “This legislation will allow the spouses of these slain police officers and firefighters the means to move on with their lives, all while receiving these benefits to which they are entitled.”
The Senators’ bill, S-668, would amend current law to allow spouses of police officers and firefighters who choose to remarry to continue to receive the weekly workers’ compensation benefits to which they are entitled. Under current law, spouses who remarry receive a lump sum payment of roughly the amount of what they would receive in benefits over two years.
This measure now heads to the full Senate for approval. #
