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Senate advances bill creating presumptive workers' compensation coverage for firefighters' cancers
Summary
S.B. 135 would establish a rebuttable presumption for certain cancers in firefighters under specified conditions (including an eight-year exposure/employment framework). Senator Maine cited broad stakeholder support; the Senate moved the bill to third reading.
Senate Bill 135, sponsored by Senator Maine, would create a rebuttable presumption of workers' compensation coverage for certain cancers among firefighters under defined circumstances.
Maine told colleagues the bill followed months of study and stakeholder engagement, naming supporters that included county and local fire chiefs, the Unified Fire Authority, professional firefighters, the Utah Medical Association and the Bureau of EMS. He described scientific findings and workplace exposures, saying protective gear can still allow carcinogenic contamination through uniforms and that in some cases a single exposure can be linked to later disease.
The bill establishes an eligibility window—discussed in the hearing as an eight-year exposure/employment threshold—and sets out procedures for claim and proof consistent with workers' compensation processes. Senator Hilliard spoke in favor but asked whether other public-safety personnel might merit similar coverage in the future; Maine acknowledged the question but said the bill was intentionally focused on firefighters.
The Senate moved S.B. 135 to the third-reading calendar by roll call; the transcript recorded the bill as receiving votes in favor (27 yay votes in the recorded roll call) and it was ordered read for a third time.
