Ellison Reintroduces Emergency Responder Family Protection Act

Press Release

Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minneapolis) once again introduced legislation to provide non-governmental emergency responders with the same employee death benefits given to government emergency employees.

The Public Safety Officer Benefits Act of 1976 covers benefits for firefighters, emergency medical technicians (EMT's) and police officers who are employed by a governmental entity. The Act provides a death benefit to survivors of these public safety officers whose deaths were in the line of duty. However, this Act does not include those who were privately employed. In Minnesota over seventy percent of ambulance transports are done by nongovernmental ambulance services.

"Emergency non-governmental public safety officers provide valuable services and do so daily in the same dangerous environments as their counterparts employed by city, state or the federal government" Ellison stated. "Simple fairness requires that we provide these workers with the same protection and benefits we afford governmental employees," the 5th District Congressman said. "It is unfair to penalize the nongovernmental public safety officers and their families simply because their employer is not a government service provider," Ellison concluded

Non-governmental workers are frequently the first responders when disaster strikes. When the Interstate 35W Bridge collapsed on August 1, 2007, some of the first responders on the scene were non-governmental ambulance workers.

"Every day, the men and woman of these nongovernmental ambulance services knowingly risk their lives to respond to critically ill or injured patients. Their families deserve the same line of duty death benefits as their governmental colleagues," stated Aarron Reinert, Executive Director of Lakes Region EMS (Emergency Medical Services).

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