One year after Florida lawmakers passed a hard-won law to allow first responders to access workers compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder, lawmakers are considering a bill that would offer the same benefits to correctional officers.
S.B. 816, introduced Wednesday by state Sen. Victor Torres, D-Kissimmee, would provide that, “under certain circumstances, posttraumatic stress disorder suffered by a correctional officer is an occupational disease compensable by workers’ compensation benefits,” according to a draft of the bill.
The benefits would “not require a physical injury and are not subject to certain apportionment or limitations; providing a time for notice of injury or death,” according to the bill.
The officer would have to be diagnosed with PTSD after witnessing a number of events listed in the bill, including death or deceased individuals with special attention to having witnessed such events occurring to a child.
The bill was referred to the Oversight, Transparency and Public Management Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee within the State Affairs Committee and would go into effect Oct. 1, 2020.
The Oregon House of Representatives passed a bill that would make presumptions on the compensability of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by first responders.