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Bipartisan legislation cosponsored by U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) to expand federal death and disability benefits for firefighters was signed into law. The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act will expand the Public Safety Officer’s Benefits Program (PSOB) to cover specific cancers linked to firefighting and emergency response, and make the expansion retroactive, so that families can claim PSOB benefits for deceased loved ones.

“Firefighters and other first responders put their lives on the line every day, often facing deadly carcinogens in the process. Expanding the Public Safety Officer’s Benefits Program to cover service-related cancer deaths is the right thing to do to honor the first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice. I’m proud this bipartisan legislation was signed into law, and I will keep working across the aisle to support first responders and their families,” said Rep. Carbajal.

Today, cancer is the leading cause of death for America’s firefighters. Currently, firefighters are only eligible for support under the Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) program for physical injuries sustained in the line of duty or for deaths from duty-related heart attacks, strokes, mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and 9/11-related illnesses. But this program does not cover service-related cancer deaths, despite a wealth of evidence linking first responder service to developing cancer. 

The bill is endorsed by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), and 10 other organizations representing first responders. The bill is co-led by Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL-28), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), and Gabe Amo (D-RI-01). Its Senate counterpart is led by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).

More about the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act:

• The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act would expand the Public Safety Officer’s Benefits Program (PSOB) to cover certain cancers and cancer-related deaths. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and educational benefits to first responders who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their survivors. Firefighters are frequently exposed to carcinogens during their service and are more likely to develop and die from cancer as a result. Currently, the PSOB program does not cover cancer-related disabilities or death. The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act would expand the PSOB program to cover specific cancers linked to firefighting and emergency response, and it would make this expansion retroactive so that families can claim PSOB benefits for deceased loved ones.
• The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides benefits to the survivors of firefighters, law enforcement officers, and other first responders who are killed as a result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. The program also provides disability benefits for first responders who become permanently or totally disabled. The Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) program, a component of the PSOB program, provides higher-education assistance to the children and spouses of public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. The PSOB and PSOEA programs are administered by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act builds upon Carbajal’s Federal Firefighter Fairness Act, which was signed into law in 2022. The legislation improves disability and retirement benefits for federal firefighters by ensuring they receive the same access to job-related disability and retirement benefits as state, county, and municipal firefighters.