National Fraternal Order of Police Endorses Figures Bill to Pay College Costs for Public Servants’ Children

Rep. Shomari Figures' Public Service Educational Assistance Act would cover public college or job-training tuition, fees and books for dependents of educators, first responders and social workers with 20 years of service.

By James Bullard

September 26, 2026 · 7:17 am Updated November 11, 2026 7 min read

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, has introduced legislation that would pay for college or job training for the children of teachers, first responders and social workers who spend at least 20 years in full-time public service.

Update, Oct. 7, 2026: The National Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Rep. Shomari Figures’ Public Service Educational Assistance Act, Figures announced Monday, Oct. 5. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians are also listed among the bill’s supporters.

Latest developments: National Fraternal Order of Police backs the bill

The National Fraternal Order of Police, the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States, has endorsed the Public Service Educational Assistance Act. Leaders of the organization sent a letter last week to the offices of Figures and Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss., endorsing the legislation and thanking them for introducing it. Figures introduced the bill in September.

In the letter, national FOP President Patrick Yoes argued the bill would help law enforcement agencies recruit and keep officers while giving the children of public servants an affordable path to higher education.

Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, said public servants are the backbone of America, serving in vital roles that ensure community safety and well-being. He emphasized that with law enforcement facing a critical recruitment and retention crisis and postsecondary education becoming more expensive and essential, the federal government must ensure public servants have the funding and opportunities to pursue higher education.

Yoes added his thanks on behalf of the more than 382,000 members of the Fraternal Order of Police for their leadership on this important issue.

Figures: ‘investing in their families’ future’

In a statement Monday, Figures described the bill as a way to give back to the families of police officers.

Figures said that police officers put their lives on the line daily to keep streets and communities safe, and that they and their families make tremendous sacrifices. He said we should give back to them, which is why he introduced a bipartisan bill to recognize the vital work of law enforcement officers by investing in their families’ future.

Growing list of endorsements

With the FOP’s support, the bill’s list of endorsing organizations now includes:

National Fraternal Order of Police
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
National Association of Social Workers
International Association of Fire Fighters
National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
Major Cities Chiefs Association

Endorsements from large professional organizations do not by themselves move a bill through Congress, but they can help sponsors recruit co-sponsors and press committee leaders to give legislation a hearing. The FOP letter’s focus on recruitment and retention also gives the bill an argument aimed at police departments, many of which have struggled to fill vacancies in recent years.

The bill, called the Public Service Educational Assistance Act, would direct the U.S. Department of Education to cover tuition, fees and books at public colleges and universities, or at public training programs that lead to a recognized postsecondary credential, for eligible dependents.

Figures said that public service employees perform some of the most challenging and important functions in communities, which is why he is proud to introduce a bill that relieves the financial burden of sending their children to college or job training programs.

The measure has bipartisan backing. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and U.S. Reps. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., and Mike Ezell, R-Miss., joined Figures in introducing it.

The bill at a glance

Name: Public Service Educational Assistance Act
Lead sponsor: U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala.
Co-leads: Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn.; Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss.
Who qualifies: Dependents of educators, first responders and certain social workers with at least 20 years of full-time qualifying service
What it covers: Tuition, fees and books at public colleges, universities and public credential-granting training programs
How long: Up to four academic years
Age limit for dependents: 26
Tax treatment: Exempt from federal income tax
Effective date: One year after enactment
Endorsements: International Association of Fire Fighters, Major Cities Chiefs Association and National Association of Social Workers, according to Figures’ office

Who would be eligible

To qualify, a parent or guardian would need to work full time in an eligible position for at least 20 years. The bill defines full-time work as at least 40 hours a week. The employee would also have to be in an eligible job when the law takes effect or begin qualifying service after that date.

The bill sorts eligible workers into three groups.

Educators

Employees of public elementary and secondary schools, public school systems, and state and local education agencies would qualify.

First responders

The bill’s definition is broad. It includes law enforcement officers, firefighters, 911 operators, fire dispatchers, emergency medical services personnel, certain emergency management employees, government prosecutors and public defenders, and certain U.S. Department of Energy nuclear emergency personnel.

Social workers

Employees of government agencies that provide mental health or child welfare services would be eligible.

How the benefit would work

Dependents could receive the assistance for up to four academic years. The bill borrows the federal tax code’s definition of a dependent but raises the age threshold to 26, which would allow many students who start college later, or who take longer to finish, to remain eligible.

Students could combine the benefit with other federal financial aid, including grants and loans. That could help cover costs the bill does not address, such as housing, meals and transportation, which often make up a large share of the total cost of attending college.

The assistance would not be counted as taxable income, and it would not be treated as wages or compensation when determining a worker’s eligibility for retirement or other employment benefits.

Because the bill limits coverage to public institutions and public training programs, students attending private colleges would not be eligible for the benefit under the text as introduced.

Figures: Recognizing the ‘backbone of communities’

Figures framed the proposal as a way to reward long careers in jobs that are often demanding and modestly paid.

Figures said he is committed to recognizing the sacrifices of those who are the backbone of communities in Alabama and across America, and to investing in real opportunities for their families.

Figures’ office said the International Association of Fire Fighters, the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the National Association of Social Workers have endorsed the bill.

How it compares with existing programs

Several federal and state programs already help public servants and their families with education costs, but most are narrower in scope.

Public Safety Officers’ Educational Assistance: A federal program run by the U.S. Department of Justice provides education benefits to the spouses and children of public safety officers who were killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
Alabama survivors’ assistance: Alabama offers tuition help to the dependents of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: The federal PSLF program can forgive remaining federal student loan balances for workers in government and qualifying nonprofit jobs after 10 years of qualifying payments. It helps the workers themselves, not their children.

The Figures bill would differ from those programs by tying a benefit for children to the length of a parent’s career rather than to a death, disability or the parent’s own student debt.

The co-sponsors

The lineup of co-leads brings together lawmakers with ties to the professions the bill targets. Hayes, a former high school history teacher, was named National Teacher of the Year in 2016 before being elected to Congress. Ezell, a Mississippi Republican whose district includes the state’s Gulf Coast, served as sheriff of Jackson County, Mississippi, before joining the House. Booker, a former mayor of Newark, New Jersey, is the Senate sponsor.

Ezell’s participation gives the measure a Republican co-lead in the GOP-controlled House, and a Gulf Coast neighbor for Figures, whose Mobile home sits about an hour’s drive from Ezell’s district.

What happens next

Like most newly introduced bills, the measure would first be referred to committee. In the House, education legislation generally goes to the Committee on Education and the Workforce; in the Senate, to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Committees decide whether to hold hearings and vote on bills, and many introduced bills do not advance beyond that stage in a given Congress.

If the bill moves forward, it would likely receive a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate, which would give lawmakers a projection of how much the program would cost taxpayers. The benefit itself would begin one year after the bill is signed into law.

The political backdrop

Figures, who was first elected in 2024, is seeking a second term in Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District, where he faces Republican state Rep. Rhett Marques of Enterprise in the Nov. 3 general election. The district now leans more heavily toward the Wiregrass, Montgomery and the eastern Black Belt after the state returned to its 2023 congressional map this year. The race is considered one of the most closely watched in the South, with both national parties investing heavily.

Before running for Congress, Figures worked in the Obama administration and later held senior roles at the U.S. Department of Justice.