By Police1 Staff
LINCOLN, Neb. — A retired sheriff’s deputy is fighting for a new state-awarded death benefit measure that will provide $50,000 for families of fallen officers, firefighters, EMS rescue squad members and corrections officers.
Journal Star reported that Russ Zeeb, president of a committee that oversees the Nebraska Law Enforcement Memorial, was shot at but escaped injury after an on-duty 2011 incident. Senator Heath Mello told members about the measure (LB 836) at the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee public hearing Monday
“It’s the state’s recognition that this is very dangerous work,” Mello said of his proposal. Associations representing thousands of public safety responders from across the state turned out for the hearing to support the bill.
“They’re paid and they wanted the job,” Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers said. “Where is the state’s duty in regards to this?”
Public safety officers’ families are already eligible for nearly $340,000 in death or serious disability benefits from the federal government. Many state and local agencies also include death benefits such as life insurance, according to the report. However, all neighboring states also offer death benefits similar to those proposed by Sen. Mello.