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Bill Summary · HB 137

Summary — HB 137 (Gabe Torres Act)

Status: Enacted (effective date noted below)
Primary purpose: Expand eligibility under the Public Safety Employees’ Death Benefits Act so that certain public safety personnel killed while traveling to or from work are treated as performing “official duties,” and provide an appropriation to fund benefits.

What the bill does

  • Amends G.S. 143‑166.2 (definitions used in the Public Safety Employees’ Death Benefits Act) by expanding the statutory definition of “official duties.” The definition now explicitly covers duties performed while:
    • en route to, engaged in, or returning from duty or training; or
    • in the course of responding to, engaged in, or returning from a call by the department of which the individual is a member; or
    • in the course of responding to, engaged in, or returning from a call for assistance from another department or organization (including contiguous service areas).
  • By expanding “official duties,” the act makes eligible for the Act’s death‑benefit protections individuals who are killed while commuting to or from work when those circumstances fall within the expanded definition.
  • Names the Act in honor of Officer Gabe Torres (Raleigh PD), who was killed on October 13, 2022.

Funding and fiscal provisions

  • Appropriates $300,000 from the General Fund to the Department of State Treasurer, effective July 1, 2025.
  • The appropriation is recurring and provided for both years of the 2025–2027 fiscal biennium; funds are to be used for benefits paid under the Public Safety Employees’ Death Benefits Act.

Who is affected

  • Public safety employees covered by the Death Benefits Act (e.g., sworn law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other covered personnel as defined in the existing statute).
  • Surviving spouses, dependents, or other beneficiaries who may be entitled to death benefits when a covered person dies while commuting or otherwise under the expanded definition of “official duties.”
  • The Department of State Treasurer (administration and payment of benefits).

Implementation and timelines

  • The appropriation is effective July 1, 2025.
  • The act applies to qualifying deaths of covered persons occurring on or after its effective date (i.e., it is not retroactive to deaths before enactment).

Practical impact

  • Clarifies and broadens the circumstances under which a death of a public safety employee will qualify for statutory death benefits, which may increase the number of beneficiaries eligible for payment.
  • Provides a specific recurring appropriation ($300,000) intended to support the additional benefit obligations resulting from the expanded eligibility. The statute does not change benefit formulas or amounts set elsewhere in law; it changes who may qualify.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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