SB 313 — AN ACT CONCERNING ADOPTION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TASK FORCE TO STUDY CANCER RELIEF BENEFITS FOR FIREFIGHTERS.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish or affect in any manner a firefighter's rights and benefits or any rights and defenses that an employer may have under chapter 568.

[(f)] (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, any employer who provides accident and health insurance or life insurance coverage for a firefighter or makes payments or contributions Public Act No.

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313 at the regular hourly or weekly rate for the firefighter to an employee welfare plan, shall provide to the firefighter equivalent insurance coverage or welfare planpaymentsor contributionswhilethefirefighter is eligible to receive or is receiving wage replacement compensation under this section.

[(g)] (f)(h) The State Treasurer shall remit wage replacement benefits that are approved by the subcommittee from the firefighters cancer sSB313reliefaccount /established Filepursuant No.to section7-313hnot later thanthirty days after such benefits have been approved.

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367 reliefaccount establishedpursuant to section7-313hnot later thanthirty days after such benefits have been approved.

5.4.

Section 31-284b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) In order to maintain, as nearly as possible, the income of [employees] claimants who suffer employment-related injuries, any employer who provides accident and health insurance or life insurance coverage for any [employee] claimant or makes payments or contributions at the regular hourly or weekly rate for full-time employees to an employee welfare plan, shall provide to the [employee] claimant equivalent insurance coverage or welfare plan payments or contributions while the [employee] claimant is eligible to receive or is receiving compensation pursuant to this chapter, or while the [employee] claimant is receiving wages under a provision for sick leave payments for time lost due to an employment-related injury.

As used in this section, "income" means all forms of remuneration to an individual from his employment, including wages, accident and health insurance coverage, life insurance coverage and employee welfare plan contributions and "employee welfare plan" means any plan established or maintained for employeesortheir familiesor dependents,or for both, for medical, surgical or hospital care benefits.

(b) An employer may provide such equivalent accident and health or life insurance coverage or welfare plan payments or contributions by:

(1) Insuring [his] the employer's full liability under this section in any stock or mutualcompaniesor associationsthat are or may beauthorized to take such risks in this state;

(2) creating an injured employee's plan as an extension of any existing plan for working employees;

(3) self- insurance;

or (4) by any combination of the methods provided in subdivisions (1) to (3), inclusive, of this subsection that he may choose.

(c) In the case of an employee welfare plan, anemployer may provide equivalent protection by making payments or contributions for such hours of contributions established by the trustees of the employee welfare plan as necessary to maintain continuation of such insurance sSB313 / File No.

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367 coverage when the amount is less than the amount of regular hourly or weekly contributions for full-time employees.

(d) In any case where compensation payments to an individual for totalincapacity under the provisionsofsection31-307continue for more than one hundred four weeks, the cost of accident and health insurance or life insurance coverage after the one-hundred-fourth week shall be paid out of the Second Injury Fund in accordance with the provisions of section 31-349.

(e)Accident andhealthinsurance coverage may include, but shallnot be limited to, coverage provided by insurance or directly by the employer for the following health care services:

Medical, surgical, dental, nursing and hospital care and treatment, drugs, diagnosis or treatment of mental conditions or alcoholism, and pregnancy and child care.

Sec.

6.

7.

Subsection (d) of section 31-367 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(d) "Employer" means the state and any political subdivision thereof and, except as provided in section 31-369, as amended by this act, any volunteer fire department and any volunteer ambulance company;

Sec.

8.

Section 31-369 of the general statutes is repealed and the sSB313 / File No.

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367 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) This chapter applies to all employers, employees and places of employment in the state except the following:

(1) Employees of the United States government;

[and] (2) working conditions of employees over which federal agencies other than the United States Department of Labor exercise statutory authority to prescribe or enforce standards or regulations affecting occupational safety and health;

and (3) any volunteer fire department or volunteer ambulance company that is able to demonstrate such department or company is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 USC 651 et seq., as amended from time to time.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to supersede or in any manner affect any workers' compensation law or to enlarge, diminish or affect inany manner commonlawor statutoryrights,dutiesor liabilities of employers or employees, under any law with respect to injuries, diseases or death of employees arising out of and in the course of employment.

Sec.

9.

Subsection (c) of section 31-382 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(c) Any employer who has received a citation for a violation of the requirements of sections 31-369, as amended by this act, and 31-370, of any standard or order promulgated pursuant to section 31-372, or of regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter, which violation is specifically determined not to be of a serious nature, may be assessed a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars for each such violation, except any volunteer fire department and any volunteer ambulance company shall, for the first such violation, only be issued a written warning.

Sec.

10.

(Effective from passage) The sum of one million two hundred thousand dollars is appropriated to the Firefighter's Cancer Relief Account, established pursuant to section 7-313h of the general statutes, sSB313 / File No.

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367 from the General Fund, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, for retroactive pay for the years the annual appropriation of four hundred thousand dollars was deferred.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2022 New section Sec.

2 July 1, 2022 31-294j Sec.

3 from passage New section Sec.

4 from passage 7-313i Sec.

5 from passage 31-284b Sec.

6 from passage New section Sec.

7 from passage 31-367(d) Sec.

8 from passage 31-369 Sec.

9 from passage 31-382(c) Sec.

10 from passage New section Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In Section 5(b)(1), "the employee's full liability" was changed to "the employer's full liability" for accuracy and, in Section 6, "(NEW)" was removed for consistency with standard drafting conventions.

LAB Joint Favorable Subst.

-LCO sSB313 / File No.

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367 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $ Firefighters Cancer Relief GF - 1.2 million None Account Appropriation Various State Agencies GF - Potential See Below See Below Cost Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $ Various Municipalities STATE See Below See Below MANDATE - Potential Cost Explanation The bill, which makes a number of changes related to firefighters and workers' compensation, results in the following fiscal impacts:

Section 1 requires fire departments to ensure that each firefighter is equipped with at least two sets of turnout gear.

Municipalities with paid fire departments will incur costs associated with providing this equipment if they do not already do so.

Costs will vary based on the number of professional firefighters in each department;

the gear 1State mandate is defined in Sec.

2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a way as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues.

sSB313 / File No.

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367 typically costs about $3,000 per set.

Section 2 (1) establishes a rebuttable presumption that a paid or volunteer firefighter diagnosed with cancer got the disease in the course of employment due to exposures specific to duties performed as a firefighter and (2) makes the illness covered under workers’ compensation law.

This results in a potential cost to various state agencies and municipalities to the extent that additional employee claims are filed and these employees meet the other conditions of the bill.

Section 3 requires the Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) to (a) maintain a recordof all firefighters’ workers’ compensation claims made due to a cancer diagnosis and (b) report a summary of the records to the Labor Committee each year, which results in no fiscal impact because the agency already has the staffing and expertise to do so.

Sections 4 & 10 make firefighters eligible for benefits from the existing firefighters cancer relief program (or any other wage replacement program) while also receiving workers’ compensation benefits for a work-related cancer diagnosis, and appropriate $1.2 million to the firefighter cancer relief account in FY 23 for this purpose.

Section 5 makes surviving spouses or other dependents eligible to continue to receive accident, health, or life insurance while they are eligible for, or receiving, workers’ compensation benefits.

This results in a potential cost of an indeterminate amount to various state agencies and municipalities to the extent that the employer offers such insurance, the claimant is eligible for or granted workers’ compensation benefits, and the claimant has a surviving spouse and/or dependents.

Section 6 requires the Comptroller to conduct a feasibility study on providing pension benefits to firefighters in circumstances when the required pension service years are not met due to early retirement resulting from a qualifying cancer diagnosis, which results in no fiscal impact because the agency already has the staffing and expertise to do so.

sSB313 / File No.

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367 Sections 7 through 9 clarify that volunteer fire departments and volunteer ambulance companies fall within the state's Occupational Safety andHealthAct (Conn-OSHA),unlessit isdemonstratedthatthey are under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

This does not result in any fiscal impact as the Department of Labor has historically considered such entities within its jurisdiction.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

2From FY 18 through FY 22 year-to-date, these entities have paid between $800 and $10,000 annually in OSHA penalties.

sSB313 / File No.

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367 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 313 AN ACT CONCERNING ADOPTION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TASK FORCE TO STUDY CANCER RELIEF BENEFITS FOR FIREFIGHTERS.

SUMMARY This bill (1) establishes a rebuttable presumption that a paid or volunteer firefighter diagnosed with cancer got the disease in the course of employment due to exposures specific to duties performed as a firefighter and (2) makes the illness covered under workers’ compensation law.

To qualify for workers’ compensation, the cancer must result in death or temporary or permanent total or partial disability and be a condition of cancer affecting the brain or skin, or any of the following systems:

skeletal, digestive, endocrine, respiratory, lymphatic, reproductive, hematological, or urinary.

The bill sets six conditions that a firefighter must meet to qualify for the presumption including, for example, time served as a firefighter, annual checkups, and whether the firefighter regularly used proper protective equipment.

It specifically states that the presumption can only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the firefighter did not meet one of the qualifying conditions.

The bill also:

1.

requires the Labor Department’s (DOL) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CONN-OSHA) to adopt the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Best Practices for Preventing Firefighter Cancer (§ 1);

2.

requires the Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) to (a) maintain a record of all firefighters’ workers’ compensation claims made due to a cancer diagnosis and (b) report a summary sSB313 / File No.

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367 of the records to the Labor Committee each year by January 1 (§ 3);

3.

repeals language that bars a firefighter from receiving benefits from the existing firefighters cancer relief program or any other wage replacement program while also receiving workers’ compensation benefits for work-related cancer (§ 4);

4.

appropriates $1.2 million to the firefighters cancer relief account established in law to provide funds for the firefighters cancer relief program (§ 10);

replaces(NEW) the(Effective termJanuary “employee”1, with2024) “claimant”(a) inEach themunicipality lawwithin thatthe requiresstate employersshall toannually continuecontribute, employeenot insurancelater coveragethan whileheorsheiseligiblefor,orreceivingworkers’compensationDecember benefits,fifteenth andof ineach doingyear, soten expandsdollars theper lawfirefighter towithin alsosuch applymunicipality's district to the employee’sfirefighters survivingcancer spouserelief oraccount otherestablished dependentspursuant (§to 5);section 7-313h of the general statutes.

6.(b) Municipality contributions shall be based on the current number of career and volunteer firefighters within the municipality at the time of contribution.

requiresPublic theAct comptrollerNo. to conduct a feasibility study on providing pension benefits to firefighters in circumstances when the required pension service years are not met due to early retirement resulting from a qualifying cancer diagnosis (§ 6);

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requires313 a(c) volunteerMunicipalities fireshall departmentonly orcontribute volunteerfunds ambulancefor companyfirefighters tothat: comply with the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Act (CONN-OSHA) as an employer, unless it can show that it is under federal OSHA jurisdiction (§§ 7-9).

EFFECTIVE(1) DATE:Have submitted to annual physical examinations subsequent to entry into such service that have failed to reveal any evidence of such cancer or a propensity for such cancer;

Upon(2) passage,have exceptnot Julyused 1,any 2022,cigarettes, foras thedefined provisionsin (1)section creating12-285 of the rebuttablegeneral presumptionstatutes, andor (2)any requiringother CONN-OSHAtobacco toproducts, adoptas defined in section 12-330a of the internationalgeneral beststatutes, practices.within fifteen years;

§(3) 2have —worked WORKERS’for COMPENSATIONnot REBUTTABLEless PRESUMPTIONthan Presumptionfive Qualificationyears Requirementsas (§(A) 2(b))an Ifinterior astructural firefighter meetsat thea bill’spaid requiredmunicipal, qualifications,state thereor isvolunteer fire department, or (B) a presumptionlocal thatfire hismarshal, deputy fire marshal, fire investigator, fire inspector or hersuch cancerother diagnosisclass isof workinspector related.or investigator for whom the State Fire Marshal and the Codes and Standards Committee, acting jointly, have adopted minimum standards of qualification pursuant to section 29-298 of the general statutes.

Service.Approved May 27, 2022 Public Act No.

To22-139 qualify,5 theof firefighter5 must have worked at least five sSB313 / File No.

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367 years on or after February 1, 2017, as:

1.

an interior structural firefighter at a paid municipal, state, or volunteer fire department;

or 2.

a local fire marshal, deputy fire marshal, fire investigator, fire inspector, or another class of inspector or investigator whose positionmeets minimumqualificationsunder state lawset by the State Fire Marshal and the Codes and Standards Committee at thetime the cancer isdiscoveredor shouldhave beendiscovered.

Under the bill, an “interior structural firefighter” is a person who performs fire suppression, rescue, or both, inside buildings or enclosed structures that are involved in a fire beyond the incipient state as defined in federal regulations (i.e., a fire at the beginning stages that can be extinguished by portable fire extinguishers or small hose systems without the need for protective clothing or breathing safety apparatus (29 C.F.R.

1910.155)).

Grounds for Rebutting the Presumption.

The bill’s presumption can only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence of any of the following:

1.

the firefighter worked less than five years of service on or after February 1, 2017, as service is defined above;

2.

the firefighter had a physical examination upon entry into service, or subsequent to entry, that revealed evidence of the claimed cancer or a propensity for such cancer;

3.

the firefighter failed to have annual physical examinations subsequent to entry into service;

4.

the firefighter used cigarettes or any other tobacco products, as defined in state law, within 15 years of the diagnosis of the claimed cancer;

5.

the firefighter has not used respiratory protection and other personal protective equipment as described in the federal OSHA sSB313 / File No.

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367 standards for five consecutive years;

or 6.

the claimed cancer is not one that is known to result from exposuretoheat,radiation,oraknowncarcinogenasdetermined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer or the National Toxicology Program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Five-Year Window After Service as a Firefighter (§ 2(c)) Thebillallowsafirefighterwhoisnolongeractivelyserving,butwho would otherwise fall within the provisions of the bill’s presumption, to apply for workers compensation benefits no later than five years after the date the person last served as a firefighter.

Ongoing Testing (§ 2(d)) A firefighter, or other individual, who is eligible for benefits under the bill must, as a condition of receiving the benefits, submit to annual physical examinations, including blood testing, during the firefighter’s or other individual’s active service and for five years after the date the person last served.

Under the bill, workers’ compensation will not cover the cost of any physical examination required under this provision.

Separate Insurance Policy to Address Cancer Illnesses (§ 2(e)) The bill also permits a fire department to purchase a separate private insurance policy to cover firefighters’ illnesses or injuries arising out of, and in the course of, employment as an alternative to workers’ compensation coverage for work related to cancer.

The policy must provide benefits that are comparable to, or better than, workers’ compensation.

(The bill does not specify how an employer would determine whether thepolicy’s benefits are comparable to or better than workers’ compensation.) § 1 – CONN-OSHA PRACTICES In addition to requiring CONN-OSHA to adopt the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Best Practices for Preventing Firefighter sSB313 / File No.

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367 Cancer, the bill also requires the same agency to adopt a practice requiring at least two sets of turnout gear to be provided to firefighters.

The bill states that this would ensure clean gear is worn while any contaminated gear is properly cleaned.

§§ 4 & 10 – FIREFIGHTERS CANCER RELIEF PROGRAM Under current law, the firefighters cancer relief program is authorized to provide wage replacement benefits to eligible paid and volunteer firefighters diagnosed with cancer.

The law established a cancer relief subcommittee of the Connecticut State Firefighters Association to award the program benefits.

The bill repeals language that bars a firefighter from receiving benefits from the existing firefighters cancer relief program or any other wage replacement programwhilealsoreceiving workers’ compensation benefits for a work-related cancer diagnosis.

The bill also appropriates, from the General Fund, $1.2 million for FY to the existing firefighters cancer relief account set up to provide funds for the firefighters cancer relief program.

The funds must be used for retroactive pay for the years the $400,000 annual appropriation was deferred.

§ 5 – HEALTH INSURANCE AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMANTS Current worker’s compensation law requires an employer that provides accident, health, or life insurance to its employees to continue to provide the insurance while the employee is eligible for, or receiving, workers’ compensation benefits.

The bill replaces the term “employee” with “claimant” and in doing so expands the law to also apply to the surviving spouse or other dependents of the employee.

Under a separate workers’ compensation law, a surviving spouse or other dependent is eligible for burial benefits and weekly compensation calculated as a percentage of the deceased employee’s wages (CGS § 31- sSB313 / File No.

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367 306).

§ 6 – PENSION STUDY REGARDING EARLY RETIREMENT DUE TO CANCER The bill requires the comptroller to study the feasibility of providing pension benefits in circumstances when a firefighter’s years of service do not meet the full pension requirement because of an early retirement due to a qualifying cancer diagnosis.

The study must examine the feasibility of implementing a prorated benefit for early retirement situations.

The comptroller must report the findings and any recommendations to the Labor Committee (The bill does not provide a deadline for the study.).

§§ 7-9 – VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANIES AND CONN-OSHA The bill requires a volunteer fire department or volunteer ambulance company to comply with Conn-OSHA as an employer unless it can show that it is under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

By law, Conn-OSHA governs workplace safety for the state and its political subdivisions as employers;

so, certain non-governmental volunteer fire and ambulance companies are not considered to be under its jurisdiction (see BACKGROUND).

They are, generally, not covered by federal OSHA unless they are privately chartered and have paid employees.

The bill also limits the penalty that may be imposed on volunteer fire departments and ambulance companies for non-serious violations of certain Conn-OSHA laws and regulations.

Current law allows the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to impose up to a $1,000civilpenaltyonanemployercitedforanon-seriousviolation.The billinstead requiresit to issuea writtenwarning for thefirst non-serious violation by a volunteer fire department or volunteer ambulance company.

By law, a serious violation is one that (1) could result in a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm and (2) the employer should know about by exercising reasonable diligence(CGS § 31-382(b) sSB313 / File No.

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367 & (l)).

BACKGROUND Related Case In Mayfield v.

Goshen Volunteer Fire Company (301 Conn.

739 (2011)), the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that a privately chartered volunteer fire company is not a political subdivision of the state (and not subject to Conn-OSHA jurisdiction) if it is not controlled by a municipality or municipal officials.

Related Bill HB 5247 (File 76), favorably reported by the Labor Committee on March 10, 2022, includes identical provisions to sections 7-9 of the bill.

COMMITTEE ACTION Labor and Public Employees Committee Joint Favorable Yea 12 Nay 0 (03/22/2022) sSB313 / File No.

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