Sen. Hatcher advances bill to classify Parkinson’s as firefighters’ occupational disease

Senator Hatcher told the Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Safety Committee on April 8 that she was carrying SB 332 for Senator Coleman and that the bill would add Parkinson’s disease to the list of firefighters’ occupational diseases.

“This bill would add Parkinson's disease to the list of firefighters' occupational diseases, and, this bill would also provide us standard for demonstrating that Parkinson's disease is occupational in origin in in order to qualify for benefits,” Senator Hatcher said during the committee meeting.

The measure would create a statutory path for firefighters to demonstrate that Parkinson’s is work-related and therefore qualify for benefits available to firefighters for occupational diseases. The chair told members she had heard an amendment may be filed on the floor to clarify that the bill would not add Parkinson’s to workers’ compensation; that amendment had not been shared with the committee at the time of the meeting.

Senator Jones asked the committee to review and record the evidence that underlies the bill’s premise, saying she wanted any data or studies on an apparent higher incidence of Parkinson’s among firefighters to be available before the bill reached the full chamber. “I mean, I know that there's certain cancers that firefighters can pick up by breathing in the fumes of plastics that are melting and things of that nature,” Senator Jones said; she asked for similar documentation about Parkinson’s.

A motion to give SB 332 a favorable report was made, seconded, and approved on a roll call vote. The committee reported the bill favorably by a 5-0 vote. The chair said members should expect the possible floor amendment and that the bill would move forward to the next stage with that clarification likely to be considered on the floor.