Carbajal's Federal Firefighter Fairness Act Gains Momentum With Approval by House Education and Labor Committee

Press Release

Today, a bipartisan majority of the House Committee on Education and Labor approved the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, a measure authored by Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24). This bipartisan bill ensures federal firefighters receive the same access to job-related disability and retirement benefits as state, county, and municipal firefighters.

"I'm pleased that to see my measure to give our brave federal firefighters the healthcare benefits they have earned has made its way through the committee process and one step closer to becoming law," said Rep. Carbajal. "Federal firefighters have been on the front lines in California fighting wildfires as we experience longer and more extreme fire seasons, but their threshold to prove work-related illness is much higher than their state or local counterparts here in California and around the nation."

Carbajal's measure would create the presumption that federal firefighters who become disabled by serious diseases, including heart disease, lung disease, certain cancers, and other infectious diseases, contracted the illness on the job.

Federal firefighters do not have the presumption that many local firefighters have -- and are forced to identify specific exposures that may have caused their illness. This burden of proof makes it extraordinarily difficult for federal firefighters to qualify for workers comp and disability benefits related to their work.

"AFGE strongly supports the Federal Firefighter Fairness Act. This bipartisan bill introduced by Representative Salud Carbajal would bring parity for federal firefighters with their state, county, and municipal counterparts by creating an automatic presumption of disability for workers compensation for firefighters who develop heart disease or certain forms of cancer," said Everett Kelley is the National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). "This bill would bring fairness and dignity to firefighters protecting and serving the American people. The difficult pathway to secure workers' compensation would be eased for our nation's heroes. They would finally get the financial support they deserve for putting their lives on the line."

"The link between firefighting and deadly diseases, including cancer, is scientifically proven. While virtually all states have passed laws giving municipal fire fighters protections against these diseases, the federal government too often denies federal fire fighters compensation benefits for occupational diseases," said IAFF General President Edward Kelly, "Today, Congress is well-positioned to fix this problem. I applaud the Committee on Education and Labor for advancing the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act and thank Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA) for his leadership on this critical issue."

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) estimates this measure would improve benefits for more than 10,000 firefighters across the U.S.

The measure, originally introduced by Carbajal and Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Mark Takano (D-CA), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) last April, now moves to the House Floor for consideration by the full U.S. House of Representatives.

Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are the lead sponsors of a bipartisan companion bill in the U.S. Senate.

Background on the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act:

Federal firefighters are regularly exposed to injury, disease and stress while protecting our national interests at military installations, nuclear facilities, VA hospitals, and other federal facilities. Numerous studies have found heart disease, lung disease, certain cancers, and other infectious diseases to be occupational hazards of firefighting.

In order to receive disability benefits under current federal law, federal firefighters are required to pinpoint the precise incident or exposure that caused a disease for it to be considered job-related. This burden of proof is extraordinarily difficult for firefighters to meet because they work in such a wide variety of environments and conditions.

California was the first state to pass a firefighter's presumptive illness law in 1982. In 2019, Montana and Florida passed the same law making it 48 out of 50 states with health presumption laws for state and local firefighters. These laws do not cover federal firefighters.

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