Statewide Iowa — As part of National Police Week, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s introducing a number of pieces of legislation designed to help those who dedicate their careers and too often their lives to protecting and serving our communities.
While the past year of COVID-19 has been hard on everyone, Grassley says the pandemic has been especially difficult for law officers who, day in and day out, have repeatedly been exposed to the virus throughout the course of their duties.
There’s been a law on the books since the 1970s that provides federal grants to front-line workers who are harmed in the line of duty. Grassley says that needed to be updated with his bill, the Helping Families of First Responders Act, so the families of police officers and others will still be covered, regardless of how COVID-19 may’ve been contracted.
Grassley, a Republican, says efforts must be made to “back the blue,” as he says the number of applications being submitted to join several of Iowa’s largest police departments are down dramatically in recent months.
