The report was filed in support of S-3029, which would increase to $100,000 the $10,000 current death gratuity payment. Image: Amy Lutz/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA Senate report calls for increasing payments to survivors on the death of a federal employee in the line of duty—which have been unchanged for decades—and for standardizing policies across agencies on their payment.
The report was filed in support of S-3029, which would increase to $100,000 the $10,000 current death gratuity payment in effect since 1997 and increase to $8,800 the funeral expense payment from the $800 that has been in effect since 1966; both then would be indexed to inflation.
The bill also would address what the report calls “an inequitable administration of death gratuity payments across the federal government . . . civilian agencies vary in the way they administer death gratuities due to a range of factors, such as the type of job held by the employee and differing rules related to offset requirements, tax treatment, and employee eligibility.”
The bill would cover all federal workers, including interns, seasonal employees, Peace Corps volunteers and others in special categories, the report said, while the death gratuity payment would apply to deaths as a result of injury or exposure to a disease in the line of service. “This benefit would also apply to a range of major incidents in which the lives of civil servants are tragically lost, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, criminal acts, wildfires, or other life-threatening events that require response teams of federal employees,” it says.
The report, which prepares the bill for a Senate floor vote, noted that OPM first proposed similar changes in 2016.
A separate authority providing higher payments (currently $221,900) to survivors of Foreign Service employees who lose their lives due to injuries sustained abroad would not be changed.
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