MADISON, Wis. - Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced his support of bipartisan legislation, authored by Sen. Van Wanggaard (R) Sen. Janet Bewley (D), Rep. John Spiros (R), and Rep. Steve Doyle (D), that would provide benefits to survivors of fallen officers. May 12 – 18, 2019 is National Police Week; across the nation communities are honoring the law enforcement who have fallen in the line of duty.

“No one should lose health-insurance coverage because a spouse or parent died in the line of duty as a law enforcement officer,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “Thank you to Senators Wanggaard and Bewley and Representatives Spiros and Doyle for championing this legislation.”

The legislation is currently is being circulated for co-sponsorship in the Wisconsin State Legislature, and Attorney General Kaul encourages all legislators to support the legislation.

According to the Legislation Reference Bureau, “This bill requires a political subdivision (a city, village, town, or county) and Marquette University to pay health insurance premiums for the surviving spouse and dependent children of a law enforcement officer who dies in the line of duty if the political subdivision or university paid such premiums for the law enforcement officer while he or she was employed by the political subdivision or university. The requirement does not apply to a surviving spouse who remarries or reaches the age of 65, or to a surviving child after he or she reaches the age of 26. Current law provides similar benefits to the surviving spouse and dependent children of a firefighter who dies, or has died, in the line of duty if the municipality (city, village, or town) paid such premiums for the fire fighter while he or she was employed by the municipality.”

Read the proposed legislation.