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Committee backs 'Chance Carlton Act' to recognize linemen as first responders
Summary
After emotional testimony from Samantha Carlton, the committee amended and advanced H.B. 1464 (the Chance Carlton Act) to classify electrical linemen as first responders and provide annuity benefits; sponsor and committee members urged passage to support families of workers killed on the job.
The committee voted to advance H.B. 1464, renamed the Chance Carlton Act in committee, which would add electrical linemen to the state's first-responder classification and extend a $250,000 annuity benefit to survivors of line-of-duty deaths under Tennessee Code 7-51-210.
Representative Powers said the rewrite and the bill would ensure linemen who respond to storms and hazards are recognized as first responders. Samantha Carlton, the wife of a lineman killed on the job, testified about her husband's work and urged the committee to pass the measure: "Chance died serving the people of Tennessee last April." She described the routine danger linemen face and asked lawmakers to ensure families receive support if tragedy strikes.
Members expressed sympathy and support; Representative Carringer and others described the work as heroic and said the committee should recognize linemen's risks. The clerk recorded 22 ayes and 0 nos and the bill was sent to Finance, Ways and Means.
