Lamont Signs Expansion Of Renamed Fallen Hero Fund

by Jamil Ragland CTNewsJunkie

HARTFORD, CT — State leaders, first responders and the families of fallen officers celebrated Gov. Ned Lamont’’s signing of a bill that would expand access to survivor benefits for the families of fallen first responders. 

The signing took place at Hartford Fire Department West End Station, Engine Co. 11 on Sisson Avenue. 

The Fallen Hero Fund is an expansion on the Fallen Officer Fund which became law in May 2024. The new fund provides survivor benefits to the families of all first responders, including firefighters, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and paramedics. 

“The premise behind these two bills is obvious and important. It says very clearly that to every first responder in our state, our police officers, our firefighters, our EMTs, our paramedics, that every day when they get up to go to work they put their lives on the line for the state of Connecticut,” said Comptroller Sean Scanlon, the grandson of a New Haven firefighter and the son and brother of police officers. “And in the tragic event where one of those individuals pays the ultimate sacrifice in service to our state, the state is going to be there to support that person’s family.”

Under those circumstances, families of first responders will receive a lump sum, non-taxable payment totaling $100,000. The legislation also allows surviving family members who were covered by that first responder’s health insurance at the time of their own death to remain on that coverage for up to five years.

Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Ronnell Higgins said the benefits the Fallen Hero Fund provides can ease hardships for the families of fallen police, firefighters, and other first responders. 

“Above all, what this bill says to all first responders is you matter,” he said. “First responders are the glue that keeps things together in the state of Connecticut, keeps our communities together when floods and wildfires and other major incidents happen in the state of Connecticut.”

Since the passage of the original Fallen Officers Fund, Connecticut has suffered the loss of several first responders. Colonel Daniel Loughman of the CT State Police, remembered state Trooper Aaron Pelletier, a nine-year veteran who was killed by a driver operating under the influence 13 months ago. He honored his widow, Dominique Pelletier, and their two children, Zachary and Troy.

“Some of the questions that the survivor of someone killed in the line of duty have to ask is how are we going to pay the mortgage? How are we going to pay the doctors bills for the children? How are we going to put food on the table? This fallen hero fund, it helps to answer some of those questions that the family has,” he said.

Firefighter Robert E. Sharkevich Sr., a 25-year veteran of the Hartford Fire Department, died last fall while battling the Hawthorne fire in Berlin. New Haven Fire Chief John Alston, Jr. spoke about the pain of losing a first responder, as his department suffered the loss of Ricardo Torres, Jr. in 2021.

“Having been in this industry for over 40 years, spending time with families that have lost loved ones, they are not thinking about the next week, the next month, the holidays. They are experiencing trauma,” he said. “Nobody goes to work thinking that they’re not going to come home that day. But this bill provides some comfort, some way of helping their families to put their lives back on track so they don’t have to worry about what that next payment will be or that medical bill or even the funeral expenses that have grown now.”

The passage of the Fallen Heroes Fund was a bipartisan effort, and the Senate Republican Caucus expressed its happiness with the signing of the bill.

“Surviving families of first responders who lose their lives while performing their duties face enormous financial and emotional challenges. The Senate Republican Caucus is honored to show our support for our fallen heroes and their families,” they said in a statement.

Lamont spoke about the steps his administration and the legislature had taken in recent years to provide more support to first responders and their families, including better coverage for PTSD, and screenings and medical care for firefighters with cancer.

“Our first responders, they consider the risks to themselves every day they go out and they have our back,” he said. “And this is one more way of saying we have your back and we also have the back of your family if something were to happen.”