Fight continues to close loopholes
HUTTO – An impassioned campaign by the widow of an officer killed in the line of duty led City Council members recently to fully restore her family’s health benefits and could lead to changes in state law.
Michele Kelley’s efforts are also leading to new rules for benefits to survivors of other city employees who die on duty, as well as a statewide push to clarify language about funding for health-insurance accounts.
“I think the sacrifice that the employee gives – the maximum sacrifice of their life – their family should be taken care of,” said Mayor Pro Tem Peter Gordon.
When Kelley recently went to the council to battle for her health insurance benefits, she didn’t go alone.
The widow of police Sgt. Chris Kelley, who was killed on duty in 2015, was joined by dozens of supporters who packed Council Chambers.
“Sgt. Kelley left a legacy with his family, his friends and his co-workers. The decision you make on this matter will be your legacy,” said Bryan Flatt of the Texas Municipal Police Association.
“It will have an effect on every first responder who currently serves the city of Hutto and on any first responder who might choose to come and serve the citizens of Hutto.”
The council directed city staff to draft resolutions to reinstate payments into Kelley’s health savings account, to pay the full premium going forward for Kelley including her children’s portion, to extend benefits to survivors of any city employee in any department who dies while on duty, and to make the initiative a legislative priority that could become a statewide benefit.
Under state law, surviving spouses and minor children of police officers who die in service are entitled to continue receiving health insurance through the city at the municipal employee rate.
Deanna Lewis, president of the Hutto Police Officers’ Association, told the council the membership rallied around Michele Kelley when they heard about the issue, voting to pay the Kelley family for benefits they had not been receiving from the city, a total of about $5,000.
During the recent council session, city leaders also told staff to ensure the association was repaid the
$5,000. “The officers of the Hutto Police Department made a promise in 2015 to never forget and to always be family. And we stand here today to remind Mrs. Kelley and the council of that commitment,” Lewis said.
According to media reports at the time, Kelley’s 37-year-old husband died when a wanted man was able to commandeer an unmarked police vehicle and struck the sergeant. The suspect was later taken into custody.
The sergeant, who was the city’s first officer killed in the line of duty, left behind his wife and two children, now ages 17 and 15.
The widow’s struggle is rooted in differing interpretations of a government code, which city leaders hope state lawmakers will clarify.
Under the system in place, the city pays the insurance premiums for its employees, but the employees pay any extra premium charged for adding family members. The city pays for Michele Kelley’s insurance premium, and she pays the premium for her children.
For years, Kelley had enrolled in a highdeductible insurance option which includes a health savings account with monthly contributions by the city. The city suspended its contributions to all employee accounts in 2021, but when it resumed payments in 2022 it no longer included Kelley in the disbursements.
Kelley didn’t notice the omission until 2024, and she asked city staff to correct the oversight. She wasn’t asking for back payments, she said. She just wanted them to resume funding the HSA as they did for all employees and would have been doing for herhusband. When she met with a city official, she said she was told that because the state code did not specifically name HSAs when it said she was entitled to insurance, the city-funded HSA disbursement was not included in her entitlements.
The issue is in the wording of the government code, which can be open to interpretation, Kelley said.
She has now vowed to change that at the state level with help from officers’ survivors in other cities.
Gordon said he has already been in touch with state House Rep. Caroline Harris-Davila, R-Round Rock, about closing loopholes in the insurance language.
“The Hutto City Council affirmed our community’s intent to support the Kelley family and any future employee of Hutto that should give their life in the service of their public duty,” City Manager James Earp said.
Kelley added she was humbled by the love and support she felt from the community.
“I definitely am pushing this forward for us to make the wording better and to make it better for all first-responder fallen families in the state of Texas, and for it to be very clear that not only is everyone covered but the hope is also to extend that to what the city is doing and for the premiums to also be paid for all families of fallen city employees,” she said.
