Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand urges vote on bill speeding up benefits for first responders

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand appeared with Southampton Town police at a news conference Monday to promote a bill that would expedite benefit claims for 9/11 first responders, injured officers and the families of those who have died.

Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) urged a vote on the bill, which she co-sponsored with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in February, that would cut the red tape she said surrounds the Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program. Gillibrand said the program can sometimes take years to respond to claims.

The bill is named after NYPD Chief Michael Ansbro, who died of 9/11-related cancer after working at Ground Zero, and a Santa Fe, Texas, police officer who was critically injured in a 2018 high school shooting.

Gillibrand said the bill would guarantee an answer to claims within nine months, or 270 days, and ensure benefits are paid immediately.

"When tragedy strikes and an officer loses their life or becomes permanently disabled in the line of duty, we owe it to them and their families to have their backs," she said.

The bill would create enhanced benefits for the families of fallen officers or first responders with disabilities suffered in the line of duty. The proposed legislation also includes benefits for partial disabilities and is designed to answer claims more quickly, Newsday previously reported.

The bill is still awaiting a congressional budget estimate, but the benefit program was funded this year for $236 million, according to Gillibrand’s office. It was heard during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in May. A companion bipartisan House bill also is pending. The program is funded annually through congressional appropriations spending.

Southampton Town Police Chief James Kiernan said the legislation would help several Southampton officers expedite their claims from responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“[Their children] didn't have that choice whether their parent is put in harm's way to provide for them," Kiernan said at the news conference at police department headquarters. "This bill shows fairness. It shows speed ... and it honors the sacrifice of those first responders so that their families can be taken care of in the times of tragedy."

Congress established the Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program in 1976 to provide death benefits for the families of fallen officers. Since then, the benefits have been expanded to include disability pay for injured officers and academic financial aid for officers' families.

As of April 2025, 900 claims had been pending for more than a year, and 1 in 3 death and disability claims were denied, Gillibrand said.

The new legislation would create an office to oversee and approve claims, while providing outreach to disabled officers and their families.

The claim-review process would be expedited under terms of the bill to a maximum of 270 days before officers receive benefits. A one-time interim payment would be issued to applicants for claims not approved during that time period. The bill also would streamline approval for officers already certified for benefits through 9/11-related compensation programs, like the World Trade Center Health Program, Gillibrand said.

"This will help make sure that the families of our fallen 9/11 responders don't have to jump through the same hoops over and over again to get the benefits that they deserve," she said.

Several previous Republican bills to reform the benefits program have stalled over handling disability benefits, before Cruz became a co-sponsor on the bill. The bill received unanimous support during the May committee meeting held during National Police Week.

The Department of Justice said last week it had tripled the number of claims in the past month, paying $96 million in benefits or disabled first responders and survivors of fallen officers under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.