Collins’ Federal Firefighters Fairness Act headed to full Senate for action

The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on May 25 advanced a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that would provide federal workers’ compensation to firefighters who contract certain illnesses as a result of their service. 

The full chamber will now consider the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, S. 1116, which Sen. Collins introduced in April 2021 with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE). The senators are co-chairs of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus.

“I am pleased that Congress has taken another step toward passing our bipartisan bill, which would allow federal firefighters to receive the benefits they deserve when they fall ill as a result of their service to our nation,” Sen. Collins said on May 31.

The legislation states that heart disease, lung disease, and specified cancers of federal employees employed in fire protection activities for at least five years would be presumed to be caused by such employment if the employee is diagnosed with the disease within 10 years of employment, according to the congressional record bill summary.

Additionally, S. 1116 states that the disability or death of the employee due to such disease would be presumed to result from personal injury sustained in the performance of duty. These presumptions also apply to fire protection employees (regardless of the length of employment) who contract any communicable disease at the center of a designated pandemic or any chronic infectious disease determined to be job-related by the U.S. Labor Department, the summary says.

“Every day across the country, firefighters put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe,” said Sen. Collins. “Federal firefighters protect some of our nation’s most critical assets and infrastructure, and these brave men and women should have the same occupational safeguards and benefits as most of their colleagues at the local level.”

The U.S. House of Representatives on May 11 voted 288-131 to approve and advance the companion bill, the same-named H.R. 2499, which was also introduced in April 2021 by U.S. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) and Don Bacon (R-NE). The Senate received H.R. 2499 on May 12 and referred it to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which reconciled the bill with S. 1116 before advancing it to the full Senate for action.

The bill is supported by the International Association of Fire Fighters, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.