Firefighter advocates press for technical fixes to cancer relief law as unions, towns dispute pension calculations

The Labor and Public Employees Committee heard extensive testimony on two related subjects: technical corrections to the firefighters' cancer relief statutes (SB 14‑26) and HB 5609, a measure addressing how workers' compensation wage replacement affects municipal pension calculations.

Uniform Professional Firefighters and local unions urged technical changes to the cancer relief fund to remove procedural hurdles that delay benefits. Peter Brown, president of the Uniform Professional Firefighters Association, and Jeff Tomchick, political director for the same union, requested language giving workers' compensation administrative law judges explicit authority to adjudicate disputed cancer fund claims, arguing judges often tell claimants they lack statutory power even when they believe the firefighter should receive benefits. Brown testified: "When we have found...we've gone in front of an administrative law judge...they've actually said on the record, we believe...the firefighter should be eligible to receive these benefits, but we don't believe we have the statutory authority to make that decision." The union pointed to dozens of cases stalled on procedural grounds and urged fixes to reflect the law's intent.

Several line firefighters described delayed coverage. Greg Lockwood, an IFF local leader, and firefighter Greg (last name in transcript) recounted a case in which an insured firefighter was temporarily billed for insurance premiums and denied pay while undergoing chemotherapy; public pressure and union advocacy resolved that case, they said, but a legislative fix was needed so others don't face similar obstacles. Firefighter Marissa Veil Barbagallo, who described a stage‑2 breast cancer diagnosis, told the committee that the fund provided essential coverage but warned the program's depletion would endanger future claimants.

On HB 5609, which addresses pension treatment of workers on long‑term compensation, municipal representatives warned that changing pension calculation rules could reopen past, bargained pension agreements and impose unanticipated costs for towns. Ronald Ng of Stratford said pension terms were negotiated and that unilateral statutory changes could circumvent binding interest arbitrations reached previously.

Union counsel and firefighter advocates countered that the current practice can leave long‑serving firefighters with drastically reduced pensions if a disabling injury occurred in the final years of service and the statutory look‑back uses weeks when the worker drew workers' compensation (which some municipal agreements exclude). Attorney Timothy O'Flynn and union representatives described Stratford examples where long‑tenured firefighters faced pension calculations of roughly $16,000 or $28,000 a year after injury; advocates argued that those results are punitive and contrary to legislative intent to support injured public safety personnel.

Municipal officials described contractual complexity and said many pension provisions were locked by earlier collective bargaining and interest arbitration awards; they urged caution about statutory overrides. CCM (Connecticut Conference of Municipalities) urged the committee to avoid language that creates a workers' compensation presumption that municipalities had opposed in prior negotiations.

Ending: Testimony revealed two parallel needs: technical fixes and clearer administrative authority to speed cancer fund claims, and a resolution of how pension formulas treat long‑term workers' compensation wage replacement without undermining negotiated municipal pension agreements. Committee members asked staff to refine statutory language and review impacted cases before advancing bills.