Federal Presumptive Legislation Introduced in Senate

August 3, 2007 – Legislation granting disability retirement benefits to federal fire fighters who contract certain illnesses on the job has been introduced in the United States Senate.

S. 1924, the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, was introduced by Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and John Warner (R-VA). The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that federal fire fighters who become disabled by heart disease, lung disease, certain cancers and certain infectious diseases contracted such illnesses on the job.

Companion legislation to S. 1924 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year by Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Jo Ann Davis (R-VA). That bill, H.R. 1142, currently has more than 100 bipartisan cosponsors.

“Support for the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act is stronger today than it has been in any previous Congress,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “Such strong support is evidence of the influence of our union and the rightness of our cause.”

To date, more than 40 states have recognized that certain illnesses are occupational hazards of fire fighting, and have enacted laws presuming that such illnesses are job-related for the purposes of workers compensation and disability retirement unless proven otherwise.

IAFF Members are encouraged to contact their senators and urge them to cosponsor S. 1924.

For more information about the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, and to check if your senators cosponsor S. 1924, click here.