January 13, 2022
Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) commends the introduction of the Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act (S. 3847). Authored by Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and co-sponsored by Senators Portman (R-OH), Padilla (D-CA), and Peters (D-MI), the bill aims to amend Title 5 of the United States Code to increase death gratuities and funeral allowances for federal employees, among other provisions.
“NFFE-IAM is pleased to see bipartisan support for this bill,” said NFFE-IAM National President Randy Erwin. “In the most tragic of situations for our nation’s civil servants, it is necessary that our government provides ample funds to honor those killed in the line of duty and ensures their surviving family is taken care of.”
The legislation will raise the current death gratuity of $10,000 tenfold, to a more appropriate $100,000. Consistent with that increase, the bill also expands the funds granted for funeral expenses from $800 to $8,800. These amounts will also be increased annually to keep pace with inflation and cost of living.
“It is far past the time to update the death benefits for federal employees who are killed in the line of duty,” continued President Erwin. “In an increasingly dangerous world, the current funeral benefit of $800 set in the Johnson Administration is a sad joke. Likewise, the survivor benefit of $10,000 is also insulting and hardly enough to see a surviving family through a tragic period of loss. The increase to death benefits does not impact discretionary budgets, and it will ensure that future incidents involving the ultimate sacrifice of federal workers will not be devalued again. This is not a partisan issue. Let’s get this done quickly.”