One of our key priorities this legislative session will be passing a bill that extends assault benefits for correctional employees.

The current law provides DOC staff who are seriously assaulted on the job benefits for up to one year before the benefits are cut off by the state. Our goal is to extend those benefits until the assaulted employee is able to return to work or is medically discharged.

We filed our bill on Wednesday, January 13, just two days into legislative session. Already seventeen legislators have signed on to the bill, including nine on the House side and eight in the Senate. The majority of these legislators have prisons in their districts, and we have excellent bipartisan support.

The Senate version of the bill (SB 6286) was referred to the Senate Law and Justice Committee while a companion bill (HB 2507) was referred to the the General Government and Information Technology Committee in the House.

We are expecting hearings for the bills in the next two weeks. If you are interested in testifying or if you have a story about a serious assault at your institution, please contact your Business Representative.