HB 536-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0794
10/08
HOUSE BILL 536-FN
AN ACT relative to death benefits for public works employees killed in the line of duty, and
relative to workers' compensation offsets for certain retirement system benefits.
SPONSORS: Rep. Schultz, Merr. 18; Rep. Schuett, Merr. 20; Rep. Soucy, Merr. 16; Rep. Wazir,
Merr. 17; Rep. Harriott-Gathright, Hills. 36; Rep. Grote, Rock. 24; Rep. Goley,
Hills. 8; Sen. Cavanaugh, Dist 16; Sen. Whitley, Dist 15
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
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ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a state death benefit for a municipal or state public works employee killed
in the line of duty. The bill also eliminates the offset for workers' compensation benefits applicable
to group I accidental death benefit annuities in state retirement system.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
HB 536-FN - AS INTRODUCED
21-0794
10/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to death benefits for public works employees killed in the line of duty, and
relative to workers' compensation offsets for certain retirement system benefits.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 Death Benefit; Employees Killed in the Line of Duty; Public Works Employee Added. Amend
2 the section heading and paragraphs I through the introductory paragraph of III of RSA 21-I:29-a to
3 read as follows:
4 21-I:29-a Death Benefit for [Police Officer or Firefighter] Employees Killed in Line of Duty.
5 I. In this section:
6 (a) "Adult child" means a child, whether by blood or adoption, of the police officer,
7 firefighter, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee
8 age 18 or older at the time of death of such police officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician,
9 [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee and who does not meet the definition of a
10 dependent child.
11 (b) "Dependent child" means a child, whether by blood or adoption, of the police officer,
12 firefighter, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee
13 who:
14 (1) Is under the age of 25 and was dependent on the earnings of the police officer,
15 firefighter, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee at
16 the time of death. For the purposes of this subparagraph, a child is not considered dependent if the
17 child provides more than half of his or her own support, is married, or is legally adopted by another;
18 or
19 (2) Is any age and is physically or mentally incapacitated and was dependent on the
20 earnings of the police officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member,
21 or public works employee at the time of death.
22 (c) "Family" means the surviving spouse of the police officer, firefighter, emergency
23 medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee who was wholly or
24 partially dependent, in fact, upon the earnings of the police officer, firefighter, emergency medical
25 technician, rescue squad member, or public works employee or, if there is no surviving spouse, the
26 surviving dependent child or dependent children, of such police officer [or], firefighter, emergency
27 medical technician, rescue squad member, or public works employee or, if there is no
28 surviving dependent child, a surviving person qualifying as a common-law spouse pursuant to RSA
29 457:39, or if there is no surviving common-law spouse, the surviving adult child or adult children, or
30 if there is no surviving adult child or adult children, the surviving parent or parents of such police
HB 536-FN - AS INTRODUCED
- Page 2 -
1 officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works
2 employee.
3 (d) "Emergency medical technician" means all levels of emergency medical technician,
4 including emergency medical responders, emergency medical technicians, advanced emergency
5 medical technicians, and paramedics, whether auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time, volunteer,
6 call, or reserve, who is employed by a city, town, village district, or precinct within the state of New
7 Hampshire, or any emergency medical technician who is a volunteer for or employed by a nonprofit
8 corporation in New Hampshire, or any emergency medical technician employed by a New Hampshire
9 licensed private ambulance service while in the performance of emergency medical services pursuant
10 to RSA 153-A:2, VI either under contract or agreement with a city, town, village, or precinct.
11 (e) "Firefighter" means any firefighter, including auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-
12 time, volunteer, call, or reserve firefighters who are employed by a city, town, village district, or
13 precinct within the state of New Hampshire, any firefighter employed by the state of New
14 Hampshire, or any firefighter who is a volunteer for or employed by a non-profit corporation which is
15 the primary provider of fire protection for all or part of a New Hampshire municipality.
16 (f) "Killed in the line of duty" means a death of a police officer, firefighter, emergency
17 medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee while in the performance
18 of his or her duties as a result of incident, accident, or violence causing death or injuries which are
19 the direct or proximate cause of death. "Incident" shall include any death that is determined to be
20 occupationally related by the worker's compensation insurance carrier, a self-insured worker's
21 compensation plan, or by the labor commissioner for workers' compensation purposes pursuant to
22 RSA 281-A.
23 (g) "Police officer" means any law enforcement officer with the power of arrest, including
24 auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time, or reserve police officers, or sheriffs and their deputies
25 who are employed by a city, town, village district, county, or precinct within the state of New
26 Hampshire, police officers employed by the university system of New Hampshire, court security
27 officers and bailiffs, and any state law enforcement officer employed by the state of New Hampshire
28 who has power of arrest as determined by state law.
29 (h) "Public works employee" means any municipal or state public works or
30 highway employee who has the responsibility to work in hazardous locations, or as a first
31 responder, or in conjunction with emergency first responders in construction zones,
32 highway traffic areas, and other locations where the public works or highway employee is
33 exposed to risk of injury or fatality from construction hazards, highway traffic volume and
34 speed, nighttime responses, environmental issues, weather, or other hazardous conditions.
35 (i) "Rescue squad member" means any member of a rescue squad formed for the
36 purposes of responding to a state of emergency as declared by the governor or as part of a search and
37 rescue effort under the supervision of the fish and game department to recover a lost person.
HB 536-FN - AS INTRODUCED
- Page 3 -
1 II. In addition to any other benefits provided under this chapter, the state treasurer shall
2 pay a $100,000 death benefit to the family of a police officer, firefighter, emergency medical
3 technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee killed in the line of duty.
4 Payment to a dependent child under the age of 18 shall be made to the child's trustee for the benefit
5 of the child. The governor, with the consent of the executive council, is authorized to draw a warrant
6 for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
7 III. The commissioner of safety, upon notice from the family or chief of department of any
8 firefighter, police officer, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works
9 employee who may be entitled to a line-of-duty death benefit or upon the commissioner's own
10 initiative, shall obtain the available records related to the circumstances, cause, and manner of such
11 death and the decedent's status as a firefighter, police officer, emergency medical technician, [or]
12 rescue squad member, or public works employee may cause further inquiry to be made, and shall
13 make a determination of whether the death qualifies as a line-of-duty death and who is entitled to
14 the death benefit. The determination shall be made within 180 days of the determination of the
15 cause and manner of death by the office of the chief medical examiner, or within 180 days from the
16 date the commissioner received notice from the family or chief of department of the firefighter, police
17 officer, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee
18 whichever is later. For deaths that are not reviewed by the office of the chief medical examiner, the
19 determination shall be made within 180 days of a determination that the decedent qualifies for a
20 workers' compensation death benefit by a worker's compensation carrier, self-insured worker's
21 compensation plan, or the labor commissioner pursuant to RSA 281-A, or within 180 days from the
22 date the commissioner received notice from the family or chief of department of the firefighter, police
23 officer, emergency medical technician, [or] rescue squad member, or public works employee
24 whichever is later.
25 2 Retirement System; Accidental Death Benefits; Workers' Compensation Offset. Amend RSA
26 100-A:8, III and IV to read as follows:
27 III. Workers' Compensation. [Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section and
28 except for payments made under RSA 281-A:37, any amounts which may be paid or payable under
29 the provisions of any workers' compensation or similar law on account of the death of any member
30 shall, in such manner as the board of trustees shall determine, be offset against and payable in lieu
31 of any state annuity payable under the provisions of this section on account of the same death. Any
32 amounts offset above shall not include compensation received to pay hospital or medical bills under
33 any private annuity or disability insurance plan.
34 IV. The offset provisions of paragraph III shall not apply in the case of a group II member
35 who dies as the natural and proximate result of injuries received while in the performance of his
36 duty. In this case] Any amounts paid or payable under the provisions of any workers' compensation
HB 536-FN - AS INTRODUCED
- Page 4 -
1 or similar law on account of the death of the member shall not be offset against or payable in lieu of
2 any state annuity payable under the provisions of this section on account of the same death.
3 3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.
LBA
21-0794
1/4/21
HB 536-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to death benefits for public works employees killed in the line of duty, and
relative to workers' compensation offsets for certain retirement system benefits.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE: FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024
Appropriation $0 Indeterminable Indeterminable Indeterminable
Revenue $0 $0 $0 $0
Expenditures $0 Indeterminable Indeterminable Indeterminable
Funding Source: [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other
POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS:
Revenue $0 $0 $0 $0
Expenditures $0 $0 $0 Indeterminable
*The New Hampshire Retirement System states it is not able to separate the fiscal impact of this legislation
between county and local government, therefore the fiscal impact is shown together as political subdivisions.
METHODOLOGY:
This bill expands the eligibility of a $100,000 line-of-duty death benefit for municipal or state
public works or highway employee killed in the line of duty. To the extent an eligible individual
is determined to have been killed in the line of duty, general fund appropriations and
expenditures would increase.
This bill also eliminates any offset for workers' compensation benefits applicable to the New
Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS) accidental death benefits, which currently applies only
to Group I employees. NHRS reports employer rates have been set for FY 2022 and FY 2023 so
there would be no changes to those rates as a result of this bill and any possible impact would
not occur until FY 2024. The actuary for the New Hampshire Retirement System indicates this
change could have a small impact on the future actuarial status of the System and employer
contribution rates (i.e. less than 0.01% of payroll) and emerge over time as any new accidental
deaths occur.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
New Hampshire Retirement System
Statutes affected: Introduced: 100-A:8
Ought to Pass: 100-A:8
latest version: 100-A:8