Public Safety Duty Disability Bill Could Have Significant Cost Implications for Cities

Lawmakers recently considered a measure that would extend employer-paid health insurance for some duty-disabled public safety officers and firefighters to age 65, undoing progress made on duty disability issues in 2025 and raising concerns for cities.

A bill that would repeal a significant change to public safety duty disability benefits in 2025 was heard and laid over on April 14 by the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR).

SF 4464, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Howe (R-Rockville), and its House companion, HF 4988, sponsored by Rep. Paul Novotny (R-Elk River), would require continued health insurance coverage until age 65 for peace officers and firefighters receiving duty disability benefits. Current law, enacted in 2025, limits that benefit to 60 months unless the disability is based solely on a psychological condition. The bill would apply retroactively to May 24, 2025, the effective date of the 2025 law.

The bill is being advanced by Law Enforcement Labor Services, a public safety labor union. Several law enforcement officers who were physically injured on the job testified in support, and employee groups submitted a joint letter of support (pdf).

Public employers weigh in

The League and other public employer stakeholders oppose the bill, citing concerns about expanding a costly mandate that may soon be unfunded. The League, Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Association of Minnesota Counties, and Minnesota Inter County Association submitted a joint letter of opposition to the bill, and the League also provided in-person testimony at the April 14 hearing.

View the joint letter of opposition (pdf).

Key points raised in the League’s testimony include:

• The age-65 health insurance benefit already applies to employees who are totally and permanently disabled. The current five-year limit applies to those with a duty disability who are unable to find other employment.
• The five-year limit was enacted in 2025, and its full impact is not yet known.
• One in three public safety retirements is now a duty disability retirement, and the average age of a duty disability applicant is 41. Providing employer-paid health insurance to age 65 could mean covering more than two decades of costs, potentially exceeding $500,000 per employee.
• If the Legislature chooses to extend the benefit to age 65, it should be administered through a state program, such as the Public Employees Insurance Program and funded by the state.

Funding concerns

The League also raised concerns about the state’s history of not reimbursing employers to comply with this mandate. Before a one-time $100 million appropriation in 2023, the benefit had not been fully funded since the late 1990s. Since 2023, employers have been fully reimbursed for the cost of continuing health insurance for duty-disabled public safety employees.

However, with one in three public safety officer retirements now disability-related, that funding could be depleted as early as two years from now. The bill does not address what happens when those funds run out. A LCPR staff memo (pdf), indicates more than half of the 2023 funds have been spent or are encumbered.

Next steps

Although the bill was not advanced on April 14, it could still be included in the LCPR omnibus bill or offered as an amendment later in the process. The League urges city officials to help ensure legislators understand the potential impacts of this legislation.

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