Pennsylvania 2025_0 Regular Session Status: In Committee Bipartisan · 29 D · 1 R cosponsors

HB 237 — An Act amending the act of June 24, 1976 (P.L.424, No.101), referred to as the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act, further providing for title of act, for application and authority for payment and eligibility and amount of benefit and for definitions.

Last action — Laid on the table, April 27, 2026

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced March 25, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Advancing 42% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 30 sponsors

    1 primary, 29 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (29 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Bryan's Law: Providing Our Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel with the Death Benefits They Deserve

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

8 changes Share ↗

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

This bill updates the Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel Death Benefits Act to include mental health conditions related to on-duty traumatic events and expands eligibility for benefits.

  • Section 1

    the surviving spouse or children or parents of → firefighters, ambulance service or rescue squad members, law enforcement officers or National Guard members or a surviving spouse, children or parents after death or suicide as a result of the performance of the firefighters', ambulance service or rescue squad members', law enforcement officers' or National Guard members' duties.

    The bill expands eligibility for death benefits to include surviving family members of first responders who die by suicide as a result of their duties.

  • Section 1

    who die → or

    The change clarifies that the act applies not only to those who die but also to those who die by suicide.

  • Section 1

    their → the firefighters', ambulance service or rescue squad members', law enforcement officers' or National Guard members'

    This change specifies the responsibilities associated with the duties of first responders more clearly.

  • Section 2

    A firefighter, ambulance service or rescue squad member, law enforcement officer, certified hazardous material response team member, member of the Pennsylvania Civil Air Patrol or National Guard member shall be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty if one of the following apply: (1) The individual died while influenced by a diagnosed psychiatric disorder due to on-duty exposure to one or more traumatic events. (2) The individual acted within 45 days of the end of an exposure to a traumatic event while in the line of duty and brought about the individual's death while influenced by an undiagnosed psychiatric disorder.

    This addition establishes a presumption regarding death resulting from mental health issues tied to service-related trauma.

  • Section 2

    The following words and phrases when used in this act shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "Personal injury sustained in the line of duty" means at least one of the following: (1) A post-traumatic stress injury, acute stress disorder or trauma and stress related disorder diagnosed by a licensed medical or mental health professional due to on-duty exposure to one or more traumatic events and where the exposure was a substantial factor in the diagnosis of the disorder. (2) A post-traumatic stress injury, acute stress disorder or trauma and stress related disorder suffered by an individual who has contacted or attempted to contact the employee assistance program of the agency or entity that the individual serves, a licensed medical or mental health professional, suicide prevention services or another mental health assistance service in order to receive help, treatment or diagnosis for post-traumatic stress injury or acute stress disorder due to exposure while in the line of duty. (3) An undiagnosed post-traumatic stress injury, acute stress disorder or trauma and stress related disorder suffered in the line of duty while exposed to one or more traumatic events if the exposure is discovered to have been a substantial factor in the personal injury.

    This introduces specific definitions related to mental health injuries to clarify what constitutes a personal injury in the line of duty.

  • Section 2

    "Traumatic event" means an incident or exposure: (1) resulting in serious bodily injury or death to an individual; (2) involving a minor who has been injured, killed, abused or exploited; (3) involving an immediate threat to the life of the claimant or another individual; (4) involving mass casualties; or (5) responding to crime scenes for investigations.

    This provides a clear definition of what constitutes a 'traumatic event' for the eligibility criteria of benefits.

  • Section 3

    January 1, [1976] → January 1, 2019

    The bill updates the effective date for retroactive applicability of provisions under the act to January 1, 2019.

  • Section 5

    The addition of section 1(a.2) and the definitions of 'personal injury sustained in the line of duty' and 'traumatic event' in section 2 of the act shall apply to all claims for benefits under the act arising on or after January 1, 2019.

    This specifies that the new definitions and presumption regarding personal injuries in the line of duty apply to claims filed after January 1, 2019.

Action History

  1. Laid on the table, April 27, 2026

  2. First consideration, April 27, 2026

  3. Reported as committed, April 27, 2026

  4. Referred to VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, March 25, 2025

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 29 co-sponsors · 223 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (29)

Not signed on (223)

223 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety veterans labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 237 do?
Bryan's Law: Providing Our Emergency and Law Enforcement Personnel with the Death Benefits They Deserve
Who sponsors HB 237?
HB 237 is sponsored by Melissa Cerrato (Democratic), Jennifer O'Mara (Democratic), Brian Munroe (Democratic), Nancy Guenst (Democratic), Jose Giral (Democratic), Carol Hill-Evans (Democratic), La'Tasha D. Mayes (Democratic), Kristine C. Howard (Democratic), Jeanne McNeill (Democratic), Tarah Probst (Democratic), Benjamin V. Sanchez (Democratic), Lisa A. Borowski (Democratic), Greg Scott (Democratic), Pat Gallagher (Democratic), Tarik Khan (Democratic), Mary Jo Daley (Democratic), Kyle Donahue (Democratic), Mandy Steele (Democratic), Perry S. Warren (Democratic), Daniel J. Deasy (Democratic), Martina A. White (Republican), Scott Conklin (Democratic), Kyle J. Mullins (Democratic), Danielle Friel Otten (Democratic), Liz Hanbidge (Democratic), Heather Boyd (Democratic), Robert F. Matzie (Democratic), Joe Webster (Democratic), Sean Dougherty (Democratic), and G. Roni Green (Democratic).
What is the current status of HB 237?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced March 25, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 237?
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