Compromise Achieved on Post-traumatic Stress Injury for First Responders!
As the 2024-25 legislative session opened, post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) for first responders legislation was introduced as Senate Bill 365 (Bartolotta) and House Bill 1632 (O’Mara). This concept has been introduced in at least two prior sessions and has circulated nationwide in many state legislatures. Rather than oppose the bills outright, our goal entering this session was to achieve a compromise so that the legislation would provide a benefit to first responders needing assistance at a fair and sustainable cost to local governments. Both bills, as introduced, would have resulted in an uninsurable cost for local governments which, in the end, would not have helped first responders in need.
This legislation amends the Workers’ Compensation Act. Under the Act, a first responder can currently make a claim for a post-traumatic injury. The legislation lowers the bar for a first responder to prove a claim and receive workers’ compensation benefits by removing the requirement to show abnormal working conditions.
For most of the session, House Bill 1632 was the vehicle for this relaxed benefit. We met with the sponsor of the bill, as well as the chairman and staff of the House Veterans Committee. We also provided language to mitigate the costs. Having researched other states that enacted a PTSI benefit, we modeled much of our language after Virginia which required first responders to have experienced a qualifying traumatic event and capped payments to 52 weeks. We also requested the infinite look back for claims be changed to events occurring after enactment of the legislation.
In May 2024, House Bill 1632 was close to passage with no compromise language when Philadelphia stepped in and was able negotiate a few important changes to the bill. Passing the House, HB 1632 included a list of qualifying traumatic events that a first responder filing a claim would need to point to as being sustained during the course and scope of employment and as causing the injury. HB 1632 also required diagnosis by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist; and it cut off the infinite potential of retroactive claims by applying the look back period to injuries occurring no more than five years before the effective date of the bill.
As the bill arrived in the Senate, the local government associations discussed with Senate staff further necessary amendments. We provided them with five priority issues which included a benefit cap and several language clarifications to ensure the relaxed benefit provided in this legislation would not bleed into other areas of the Workers’ Comp Law. We continued to work with the Senate staff on language and in early October the Senate picked up its version of the bill and amended it with the language of HB 1632 and added a 104-week cap on benefits and the clarifying language we requested. With these additional amendments, The League and PSATC were able to take a neutral position on the bill. The Senate passed SB 365 on October 9 and sent it to the House. In the final week of voting session, the House moved SB 365 through Committee and passed it finally on October 23.
As SB 365 goes to the Governor for enactment the following provisions are included:
- Defines first responder (Police, Fire and EMS personnel) and clarifies that they actively respond to emergency calls;
- Provides a list of five qualifying traumatic events and provides a first responder must establish that the PTSI was the result of undergoing one of the qualifying events in the course and scope of employment as a first responder;
- Caps the benefit at 104 weeks;
- Requires a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist to make the diagnosis of PTSI;
- Requires a claim to be filed no later than 3 years after diagnosis;
- Limits injuries to those occurring no more than 5 years before the effective date of the benefit;
- Prohibits this benefit for injuries suffered as a result of personnel actions;
- Clarifies the changes made to the Workers’ Compensation Law under the bill do not apply to other areas of the Workers’ Comp Law; and
- Provides an effective date of 1 year from enactment.
We know this legislation is still an unfunded mandate on local government and taxpayers. However, we believe we have mitigated the costs substantially while still providing first responders with an easier path to PTSI benefits. We thank our members who communicated with their House and Senate members over the years about this mandate and the need to find a fair, affordable compromise. Finally, we also thank the Delaware Valley Trust and Campbell Durrant for their guidance on amendment language throughout this lengthy process.