Zawistowski Supports Firefighter Cancer Relief Fund Legislation

HARTFORD—State Rep. Tami Zawistowski voted early Thursday to create a relief fund that would cover lost wages for firefighters undergoing treatment for cancers linked to their service.

The legislation is a product of yearlong negotiations involving lawmakers, firefighters and municipal officials concerned that an initial proposal instead tied to worker’s compensation would have stressed taxpayers. The bipartisan comprise instead creates a relief account with a dedicated funding source using part of an existing fund.

“This bill is a representation of what can happen when members of the legislature and advocacy groups slow down, listen to one another, and make a meaningful effort to produce a plan that gives all parties a little of what they hoped to achieve,” said Zawistowski, a bill co-sponsor who serves Suffield, East Granby and part of Windsor. “I don’t know anyone in the House chamber who didn’t want to help firefighters—men and women who help us when we need it most. But these difficult financial times loomed over this discussion and, ultimately, pushed us to this solution acceptable to everyone.”

The Firefighters Cancer Relief Account would be managed by a newly-created Cancer Relief Subcommittee of the Connecticut State Firefighters Association run by firefighters. If approved by the senate and signed into law by the governor, the legislation would go into effect Feb. 1, 2017. It would divert $.01 from the e911 fee on telephone bills into the wage replacement account, and eligibility wouldn’t start until July 1, 2019 to allow the fund to accumulate enough money to provide benefits.

The maximum benefit period is two years, and the program’s guidelines outlines eligibility standards that include: annual physical exams and cancer screenings; OSHA compliance; no smoking or tobacco use within past 15 years of benefits application; and diagnosis of a cancer that’s on a list maintained by the International Agency for Research on Cancer or the federal National Toxicology Program.

Among those eligible for the wage replacement benefits would be: uninformed members of paid, municipal or volunteer fire departments; local fire marshals and their deputies; and fire investigators.