Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program Expansion Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill creates a new benefit for public safety officers who are permanently but not totally disabled from line-of-duty injuries. If an officer can no longer perform their public safety job, they receive half of the standard disability payment amount.
• The Bureau of Justice Assistance must notify claimants of missing information within 90 days and make a final eligibility decision within 270 days. If the Bureau misses the 270-day deadline, it must issue an interim benefit payment automatically.
• If a local agency fails to provide necessary records within 30 days, the Bureau must issue a legal subpoena to force the agency to turn over the documents, with a possible 60-day extension.
• Families of 9/11 first responders get a faster path to death benefits. If the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund or the World Trade Center Health Program has already certified the facts, the Bureau must approve the claim unless there is clear and convincing evidence against it.
• The Comptroller General must conduct annual audits of claims that have been pending for more than one year, examining the reasons for delays, outreach effectiveness, and whether the Bureau is using its subpoena authority.
• The Bureau must conduct ongoing outreach to make sure public safety officers and underserved agencies know about these benefits, including specific outreach for disabled officers and families of fallen officers.