After hearing emotional testimony from Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, an Illinois House committee unanimously approved legislation Thursday that would grant Chicago cops and firefighters full benefits if they become disabled from COVID-19.
Mendoza is pushing for the measure because her brother, a Chicago police detective who lost his kidneys due to a coronavirus infection in late 2020, was denied "duty disability" benefits that would have provided him with 75% of his salary and free health care.
Susana Mendoza choked up while testifying before the Illinois House personnel and pensions committee about her brother, urging passage of a law that would retroactively apply to any police officer or firefighter in Illinois who was left disabled by COVID since March 9, 2020. According to his attorneys, the board later also rejected a duty disability pension for another officer whose lungs were damaged by the coronavirus — and least 18 other officers have similar requests pending.
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