Families of firefighters who battled cancer can now receive benefits from the Public Safety Officers Benefits Program.
Minnesota Senior U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) sponsored the bill that was just signed into law by President Donald Trump. Klobuchar and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced that their bipartisan Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act expands access to federal support for the families of firefighters and other first responders who pass away or become permanently disabled from service-related cancers.
"We are doing a celebration of the lives of those we lost, but also a tribute to those that got this done," Klobuchar said Monday on the WCCO Morning News. "And the bill takes effect immediately and it's gonna allow for benefits for those families, kids, and for, of course, the families of those that we've lost to cancer."
Klobuchar says that one of the major advocates for this change was Julie Paidar, whose late husband died of cancer while working for the St. Paul Fire Department. Michael Paidar, a St. Paul fire captain, died of an aggressive form of Acute Myeloid Leukemia on August 26, 2020 while still working for the fire department.
"And she became not just a state advocate, but a national advocate along with all of the firefighters in Minnesota as they had seen cases in Albert Lea, and in Alexandria and all over the state," adds Senator Klobuchar
The senator also added that research shows that firefighters get cancer at a much higher rate than the rest of the population.
“Our first responders epitomize courage and selfless sacrifice, confronting both the immediate perils of their duty which are extreme and the lingering health risks associated with their service,” said Sen. Cramer. “Their exposure to dangerous carcinogens happens on our behalf. When these heroes make the ultimate sacrifice, their families should not have to bear these burdens alone. I’m grateful my Senate colleagues passed this important legislation.”
The International Association of Fire Fighters also endorsed the legislation which now lists occupational cancer as a line-of-duty death.
“We know the devastation occupational cancer has brought to our profession. When a fire fighter dies from job-related cancer, that is a line-of-duty death – and it is long past time the federal government recognized that truth,” said IAFF General President Edward Kelly. “The signing of the Honor Act marks a significant turning point. This legislation ensures our fallen are honored, and their families are not left behind.”
The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act reforms existing federal law to include 20 types of cancers – including brain, lung, prostate, breast, esophageal, and other cancers prominent in the fire service – to the PSOB Program and presumes them as occupational for fire fighters.