Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program Expansion Act of 2026

The entire section creating a new benefit for officers with permanent partial disability (paying half the full death/total disability benefit amount) was removed, along with provisions for progression to total disability within 3 years, offset rules if the officer later dies from the same injury, and interim payment authority.

A clarifying provision stating that nothing in the Act expands or alters educational benefits available to dependents was removed.

The 270-day deadline for the Bureau to issue a determination now runs from 'receiving all information required to process the claim' instead of 'receiving a complete claim,' which could extend the timeline if the Bureau is still gathering information.

The Bureau's determination must now be a 'final, appealable determination' rather than simply a 'determination,' adding specificity about what constitutes a completed action for purposes of the deadline.

The definition of 'complete claim' (a claim containing all required documents and assigned a claim number) was removed, consistent with the change in the 270-day trigger language.

The cross-reference for 'gainful work' was changed from 20 CFR section 416.972 (Social Security Administration regulation) to 28 CFR section 32.23, and the insertion of 'or gainful work as a public safety officer' into the disability definition was removed.

The delay attribution language was changed from 'the failure to cooperate of an agency' to simply 'an agency from which information is required,' removing the requirement that the agency must have failed to cooperate for the delay to be attributed.