By Charles E. Ramirez
The Detroit News
LANSING, Mich. —A bill that would double the benefits for families of Michigan police officers or firefighters killed in the line of duty was advanced this week by a state senate committee.
The four members of the Michigan Senate Veterans and Emergency Services Committee Wednesday voted unanimously to send the bill, No. 834, to the full Senate . The vote came on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States .
The bill calls for raising the benefits for the spouses or children of public safety officers who die or are permanentlydisabled in the line of duty from $25,000 to $50,000.
State Sen. Kevin Hertel , D- St. Clair Shores , the committee’s vice-chairman, introduced the bill in April.
“In every corner of our state, we have firefighters, police, paramedics, rescue squad members who put public service above themselves and ensure the safety and security of our neighbors,” he said. “And they don’t answer that call alone. Their families also play a critical role in the work that they do.
“Unfortunately when tragedy strikes, these families of our first responders are the ones who have to pick up the pieces and are left with that permanent hole in their family structure.”
Michigan first passed a law in 2004 to give families of public safety officers killed or disabled in the line of duty a one-time benefit of $25,000, Hertel said.
He said the cost of living has increased since that law was initially enacted. “It’s been two decades since this amount has been updated,” the senator said. “This bill would simply double it to make sure we do everything we can as a state ... to make sure their families can get by.”
The senator said analysis of the state budget showed it can afford the increase.
Veronica Klinefelt , D- Eastpointe , the committee chair, said she supported the proposed legislation.
The death or the incapacitation of public safety officers is their “family’s worst nightmare,” she said. “It’s nice to know that the state is willing to do something to ease their burden.”
Montgomery Nye , fifth district vice president of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union , told the committee he and his organization support the proposed legislation. The union represents more than 5,000 full-time firefighters across the state, he said.
“Firefighters put ourselves at risk every day to protect the public,” he said. “Just like on 9-11, the worst call we can get is that one of our own has been killed in the line of duty. In those moments after tragedy strikes, we rally around the families of those lost, helping them put the pieces back together. This legislation is a way for the state to rally around those who died protecting others.”
Representatives from other professional public safety organizations attended the committee meeting and submitted cards to the panel in support of the measure but did not speak during the proceedings.
In a statement issued later in the day, Matthew Sahr , president of the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union and 16-year veteran of the Harrison Township Fire Department , said the legislation acknowledges the risk first responders’ and their families face.
“Every day, Michigan firefighters demonstrate boundless courage, running into fire to help those in need while everyone else is running away,” he said. “As someone who has held families reeling from a profound loss and has witnessed colleagues suffer physical disability from the job, it is clearly evident that we are not answering the call to serve alone — our families answer too. Senator Hertel’s legislation acknowledges the risks our families face alongside us and sends a powerful message that their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Kenneth Grabowski , Legislative Director of the Police Officers Association of Michigan , added: “Police officers in every corner of our state put on their uniform each day knowing the risks involved, but we also know that our families bear those risks with us. When tragedy strikes, it’s our loved ones who are left to pick up the pieces. This legislation recognizes the immense burden they face, not only providing gratitude to the families of our fallen officers, but also ensuring they have the resources they need in the aftermath of an unimaginable loss.”
Last year, Michigan had one police officer killed in the line of duty, according to the National Law Officers Memorial Fund . The fund said law enforcement line-of-duty fatalities nationwide in 2023 declined for the second year in a row. It said 136 federal, state, county, municipal, military, tribal and campus officers were killed in the line of duty in 2023. That compares with 224 in 2022.
Meanwhile, two firefighters died in the line of duty in 2023, up from one the year before, according to the U.S. Fire Administration . Nationally, 89 firefighters died in the line of duty in 2023, an 8% decrease from the previous year, according to the National Fire Protection Association .
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