SB 1157
Initials JH/SR Page 1 Caucus & COW
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
Senate: FIN DP 5-1-1-0 | APPROP DP 10-0-0-0 |3
rd
Read: 24-3-2-0
House: GOV DP 7-0-0-0
SB 1157: workers' compensation; death benefits; remarriage
Sponsor: Senator Gowan, LD 19
Caucus & COW
Overview
Allows a surviving spouse to continue receiving death benefits if they remarry.
History
In the event of a loss sustained on account of injury or death specified employees and their
dependents are entitled to receive compensation. These employees include but are not
limited to: 1) all persons in the service of the state of Arizona and its municipalities including
police and fire departments; 2) specified lessees of mining property; 3) firefighters, volunteer
firefighters, policemen and voluntary policemen; 4) members of the Department of Public
Safety reserve; and 5) members of a volunteer sheriff's reserve (A.R.S. §§ 23-901, 23-1021).
In the case of an injury involving death the following compensation amounts are prescribed
in statute: 1) burial expenses of $5,000; and 2) differing percentages of the average monthly
wage of the deceased individual based on the existence of a surviving spouse or dependent
kin. A surviving spouse's benefits terminate upon their death or remarriage. The benefits
for surviving children cease upon the child's eighteenth birthday, unless they are incapable
of self-support (A.R.S. § 23-1046).
Provisions
1. Removes language that terminates a surviving spouse's death benefits upon their
remarriage.
2. Applies retroactively from January 1, 2024, to the spouses of first responders. (Sec. 2)
3. Defines first responder. (Sec. 2)
4. Makes technical changes. (Sec. 1)
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note