Public safety officer death benefit law definitions and benefits expansion provision

This bill expands Minnesota's public safety officer death benefit program by broadening the definition of "killed in the line of duty" to include deaths from heart attacks, strokes, or vascular ruptures caused by on-duty stress (e.g., during emergency response or training), PTSD-related suicide within 45 days of a traumatic event, and complications from specific infectious diseases (like COVID-19 or tuberculosis) contracted during duty. It also clarifies that more public safety roles qualify for benefits, including volunteer firefighters, good Samaritans assisting officers, and certain medical responders. The changes apply retroactively from February 1, 2020, allowing families to file claims for past deaths that now meet the expanded criteria, with a filing deadline of July 1, 2027, for retroactive cases. This directly affects the families of qualifying public safety officers who died under these new circumstances.