Fire service leaders back 5¢ phone surcharge to fund firefighter cancer relief; lawmakers debate workers' comp alternative

Local officials, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association, the joint council of chiefs and other unions and municipal leaders testified in favor of Senate Bill 13 18, which would assess a small monthly surcharge on phone service to deposit into the firefighter cancer relief fund.

Selectman Rudy Marconi, representing the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said the fund was established as a separate mechanism after earlier consideration of workers' compensation proved fiscally risky for municipalities. Marconi described an initial state contribution and continued municipal contributions of $10 per firefighter and said the current balance (testimony cited about $7,000,000) could be quickly exhausted by even one major claim. "We cannot allow this to happen to the fine men and women who provide this vital service to our municipalities," Marconi said.

Marconi and other…