Plain English Summary
This bill expands the Public Safety Employees' Death Benefits Act to include public safety employees killed while traveling to or from work, rather than only those killed while actively performing duties. It allocates $300,000 annually for the 2025-2027 budget period to cover these expanded benefits.
Arguments in Favor
Supporters argue this bill honors fallen Officer Gabe Torres and provides critical financial support to families of public safety workers killed during their commute to protect their communities. They contend that officers face unique dangers even while traveling to work due to their public visibility and role, making death benefits a fair recognition of the inherent risks these workers accept.
Arguments Against
Opponents may argue that expanding death benefits beyond official duties sets a broad precedent that could increase long-term costs to the state and become difficult to manage or limit in future cases. They may question whether commute-related deaths represent job-specific hazards versus general public safety risks that private sector employees also face, and whether other expansion requests might follow.
AI-generated analysis based on bill text. Always verify with official sources at ncleg.gov. This is not legal or political advice.
Sponsors
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 66
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 39
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 37
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 65
Cosponsors (43)
Representative · District 102
Representative · District 61
Representative · District 48
Representative · District 106
Representative · District 88
Representative · District 26
Representative · District 18
Representative · District 30
Representative · District 101
Representative · District 16
Representative · District 36
Representative · District 84
Representative · District 29
Representative · District 92
Representative · District 7
Representative · District 74
Representative · District 19
Representative · District 52
Representative · District 53
Representative · District 56
Representative · District 8
Representative · District 71
Representative · District 103
Representative · District 13
Representative · District 41
Representative · District 45
Representative · District 21
Representative · District 34
Representative · District 115
Representative · District 50
Representative · District 5
Representative · District 114
Representative · District 59
Representative · District 57
Representative · District 97
Representative · District 73
Representative · District 32
Representative · District 100
Representative · District 83
Representative · District 27
Representative · District 111
Representative · District 95
Representative · District 40