First-responder occupational disease bill fails to make it through the Legislature

SB 6213 failed to pass out of the Legislature. The bill proposed new first responder workers’ compensation presumptions for various cancers and infectious diseases. AWC had concerns with this bill due to a lack of medical evidence. The bill would also have unnecessarily increased local government workers’ compensation rates and pension costs.

Importantly, the presumptive diseases proposed in SB 6213 are already covered under workers’ compensation insurance. Currently, an employee has the burden to show that a disease was caused by their employment. A “presumptive disease” is a statutory creation providing that when an employee files a claim, it is presumed to be job-related and the employer has the burden of proof to show that the disease was not job-related.

Tags: HR & labor relations