H.B. 337 - Summary

• Creates the One-Time Bonus Awards to Pandemic First Responders Program to provide one-time bonuses to eligible first responders who were continuously employed from March 1, 2020, through employer certification and had no disciplinary action.

• Full-time first responders receive $1,000; part-time first responders, volunteer firefighters, and certified emergency medical technicians receive $500.

• Eligible first responders include police officers, firefighters, State Highway Patrol officers, deputy sheriffs, jail officers, investigators, and certified emergency medical technicians employed by state agencies, municipalities, counties, townships, or school districts.

• Employers must certify eligible first responders to the Attorney General within 30 days of enactment; Attorney General must distribute funds within 90 days.

• Appropriates $82,736,500 from the American Rescue Plan Act for fiscal year 2022, with $125,000 available for Attorney General administrative expenses; awards are excluded from salary calculations for pension and bargaining purposes.