President Barack Obama signed a bipartisan bill Wednesday allowing donations benefiting the families of two slain New York City police officers to be tax deductible for 2014, even if they were donated after the start of 2015.
The “Slain Officer Family Support Act of 2015,” was passed to promote relief of the families of NYPD detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were shot and killed last year in their patrol car.
Police officers pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the site where New York City police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were murdered, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. Police say Ismaaiyl Brinsley ambushed the two officers in their patrol car in broad daylight Saturday, fatally shooting them before killing himself inside a subway station. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Under previous law, a donation would have to have been made prior to Dec. 31, 2014 to count for tax year 2014. However, the bill allowed any donations made between Jan. 1 and the April 15 tax filing deadline of 2015 to also count as a deduction for 2014 taxes.
The bill was co-sponsored by New York Reps. Peter King, a Republican, and Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat.
