The Senate announced its version of the $25 billion state budget on Tuesday and it included a $235,000 Line of Duty Death benefit expansion of oral cavity and pharynx cancers, the exact line-item proposed by the House in its budget on May 1.

While the House and Senate agree on the LODD line-item, there are sizable differences between the two chambers on the rest of the spending plan and those differences will be negotiated over the next month as the July 1 fiscal year approaches. PFFPNC’s focus is to make sure this agreement sticks in the final spending plan.

If the agreement between the chambers stays intact, the number of cancers covered by the Line of Duty Death benefit will grow to six of nine fire fighter cancers. In addition to oral cavity and pharnyx cancer proposed in this year’s House and Senate budget proposal, the Line of Duty Death benefit already includes mesothelioma, testicular cancer and cancer of the small intestine (added in 2016); and esophageal (added in 2017). In 20018, PFFPNC took the opportunity to double the LODD from $50,000 per death to $100,000 per death, but added no new cancers.

“This is the first time the Senate has ever proposed expanding the Line of Duty Death benefit in its initial budget proposal,” said PFFPNC Political Director Josh Smith. “We are so grateful to the chairs in both the Senate and House for proposing these expansions and for coming to an agreement so early in the process.”

PFFPNC President Tom Brewer added, “These LODD benefits will help families recover at a time when many families are devastated not only by an illness that takes a loved one, but also an illness that leaves them in financial ruin.”

Powerful House Rules Chairman David Lewis (R-Harnett) filed House Bill 520 | Firefighters Fighter cancer Act on Thursday, legislation that will help relieve some of the burdens that fire fighters face once they have been diagnosed with nine work related cancers.

The bill is co-sponsored by Majority Leader John Bell (R-Green/Johnston/Wayne), Rep. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln) and Rep. Gregory Murphy (R-Pitt). (Pictured below, left to right) PFFPNC encourages all fire fighters to email the bill sponsors at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected] to thank them for filing such an important bill.

“This bill will eliminate the long process that currently takes place for a fire fighter to receive worker’s compensation for their diagnosis,” said PFFPNC DVP Scott Mullins, who lost two Asheville fire fighters to cancer in the last year. “Instead, the men and women who boldly put their lives on the line for our society are more quickly given worker’s compensation for cancers that disproportionately affect fire fighters.”

Chairman Lewis offered the following statement: “If these brave men and women are willing to storm into our homes to protect North Carolinians and our property, then we should be protecting them from the dangers that their job poses. Once I saw the medical statistics, it is clear that we need to be doing more to help, and I think this bill will alleviate the financial burden placed on fire fighters and their families once they have been diagnosed.”

The nine cancers that would be presumed for the sake of worker’s compensation are:

• Esophageal
• Intestinal
• Rectal
• Testicular
• Brain
• Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
• Multiple myeloma
• Mesothelioma
• Oral cavity

These particular cancers are chosen as they, in a rather drastic manner, disproportionately affect the men and women who serve as fire fighters.

“Firefighting is a particularly hazardous occupation where those employed in this industry are drastically more likely to be affected by a wide variety of health issues, both during their career and long after they retire,” says Majority Leader Bell. “While I pray that the day never comes where a fire fighter hears they have cancer, if one unfortunately does, he or she should be taken care of, and I think this bill does just that.”

PFFPNC’s bill sponsors file two bills entitled Parity for First Responders this week in the Senate and House.

Senate Bill 179 was filed Monday night by Senators Brent Jackson (R-Duplin/Sampson/Johnston), Danny Britt (R-Robeson/Columbus) and Tom McInnis (R-Anson/Moore/Richmond/Scotland).

SB179 was referred to the Senate Rules and Operations of the Senate on Tuesday, which is where all bills are assigned in the Senate before getting re-referrals.

House Bill 278, the companion bill to SB179, was filed the next day by Representatives Jason Saine (R-Lincoln), Jon Hardister (R-Guilford), David Lewis (R-Harnett) and Mitchell Setzer (R-Catawba).

The House referred the bill to the Finance Committee (chaired by Rep. Setzer), then Pensions and Retirement Committee and Rules and Operations of the House (a committee chaired by Rep. Lewis).

The bill was immediately greeted with cheers from fire fighters across North Carolina while the NC League of Municipalities immediately launched an email/phone campaign aimed at legislators. PFFPNC immediately responded with a social media graphic correcting misinformation and encouraging fire fighters to email their legislators.

PFFPNC Political Director Josh Smith and DVP Scott Mullins spent Wednesday and Thursday walking the halls with PFFPNC lobbyists trying to recruit co-sponsors to the bills. Click here to view the video update Smith and Mullins provided after a day of lobbying on Wednesday.

“There’s no doubt about it that we must have every PFFPNC Local in North Carolina engaged in our Parity for First Responders bills in  both chambers,” said Smith. “The other side is engaged and this is going to come down to who wants it more.”

If your Local would like to be involved at the General Assembly  this session, email Smith at [email protected] or Mullins at [email protected].

The International Association of Fire Fighters has dozens of resources to assist its members during a time of disaster. Just some of the information on the IAFF’s website includes health, safety and response advisories, federal resources and information on the IAFF’s disaster relief fund.

Click this link for more information.