A Senate bill to pay for firefighter cancer benefits was sent to the House after being stripped of its funding source last week, but the governor and bill’s sponsor believe the legislation could still result in the benefits being funded.
SB 541, which would have used a surcharge on insurance policies to fund benefits for firefighters presumed to have gotten cancer from their work, passed the Senate March 22 after being amended to remove the surcharge funding approach, said state Sen. Dan Innis, R-New Castle. Insurance companies argued the surcharge was unreasonable, requiring only insurance carriers pay for a service that benefits the entire population.
Innis, who sponsored the bill, said the amendment keeps the bill’s language otherwise in place and requires a study commission to identify a funding source for the bill by November.