A bill currently in the Texas Legislature would change pension payouts to surviving family members of first responders who died in the line of duty.

Senate Bill 2416, which is the same as House Bill 4034, authored by Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch) and others, would increase the pension benefits paid to surviving family members of a first responder who died in the line of duty. Currently, surviving family members only receive benefits as if their first responder family member had retired early, but the proposed bill would increase these benefits, providing full retirement benefits.

The bill would not only benefit survivors going forward but would also benefit existing survivors as well.

Kelly Gottschalk, executive director of the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, explained the pension system used for those who die in the line of duty.

“Currently, it’s 50% for surviving spouse with no children under the age of 19, or children under the age of 19 who don’t have a surviving parent, and both of those would go up to 100%,” explained Gottschalk, per Fox 4 KDFW.

Should the first responder have both a spouse and a child under the age of 19, there are other caveats that take place as the child ages, explained Jim McDade, president of the Dallas Firefighters’ Association.

“It’s set up where half of the benefits [go] to the widow and half goes to the surviving children, but then once [the] surviving children become of age, well then that half just dropped off instead of going back to the widow as it should because that’s an earned benefit earned by the member,” said McDade, per Fox 4.

Kristi Walters’ husband, Dave, was a Dallas firefighter who died in the line of duty before he was eligible to receive the full pension.

“Had he made it to retirement age, he would have gotten whatever his retirement would have been as a driver engineer with the Dallas Fire Department at age 58. He died at 49, unexpectedly, so we get a giant hunk taken away from what his pension would have been,” said Walters, per Fox 4.

Gottschalk said she understands the issues that may arise with funding, but the bill is important for the families who experienced the loss of spouses in the line of duty.

“We do recognize that our funding levels [are] not where we want them to be, so the board really considered it really hard when they’re looking at increasing any cost to the system, but they thought this was just so important that the families of these people who give their life for the city of Dallas that they get the retirement benefit that their person would have been able to receive had they worked until retirement,” she said, per Fox 4.