At Issue: Bill would expand benefits for emergency responders

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At Issue: Bill would expand benefits for emergency responders

Sunday, February 7, 2010 7:15 am

In a nutshell

State emergency responders would be presumed qualified for taxpayer-funded

public pension benefits if they’re infected with contagious diseases such as

AIDS and hepatitis C, under a bill before lawmakers.

That’s because the state or local firefighters, paramedics, prison guards or law

enforcement officers, regardless of their time on the job, would be assumed to

have contracted the disease at work as long as they didn’t have it when they

started, under Senate Bill 429.

The bill extends an existing state requirement for firefighters with at least

five years of service. Under that guideline it’s presumed that any heart or lung

diseases the firefighter has were caused by their job, so long as the

firefighter didn’t have them when he or she started.

The case for it

Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association,

said those responding to accidents and emergencies may be exposed to blood or

other bodily fluids that can transmit diseases.

“It’s good public policy to recognize that you have a dangerous occupation and

we’re not going to force you to prove where you got a sickness,” Palmer said.

Palmer said he was not aware of a case in which an emergency responder in the

state contracted an infectious disease and was denied benefits.

The case against it

The bill could lead to higher costs for local governments with already strained

budgets, said Reinemann, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Counties Association.

Reinemann said it would often be difficult if not impossible to prove that an

emergency responder didn’t contract AIDS or another infectious disease on the

job. No estimates have been made of the possible increased costs to the pension

system and the local governments who pay into it.

“Creating a blanket presumption affects every case of this sort, regardless of

the facts in the case,” he said.

The bill’s author, Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, said there would be few such

cases and a relatively modest cost associated with them.

To get involved

You can testify for or against the bill at a hearing at 10 a.m. on Tuesday in

Room 201 Southeast at the Capitol.

To contact lawmakers to oppose or support the bill, use the legislative hot

line, which is staffed from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. weekdays, call 800-362-9472.

To send an e-mail, log onto the Legislature’s Web page at www.legis.state.wi.us,

select Senate or Assembly, and follow the link to the e-mail directory.

— Stein

Posted in Govt_and_politics on Sunday, February 7, 2010 7:15 am Updated: 7:26

am. Emergency Responders, Wisconsin Professional Police Association, Wisconsin

Counties Association

[Guest guest]

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_88d197bf-7f8e-5\

579-916b-00b950f40cde.html

At Issue: Bill would expand benefits for emergency responders

Sunday, February 7, 2010 7:15 am

In a nutshell

State emergency responders would be presumed qualified for taxpayer-funded

public pension benefits if they’re infected with contagious diseases such as

AIDS and hepatitis C, under a bill before lawmakers.

That’s because the state or local firefighters, paramedics, prison guards or law

enforcement officers, regardless of their time on the job, would be assumed to

have contracted the disease at work as long as they didn’t have it when they

started, under Senate Bill 429.

The bill extends an existing state requirement for firefighters with at least

five years of service. Under that guideline it’s presumed that any heart or lung

diseases the firefighter has were caused by their job, so long as the

firefighter didn’t have them when he or she started.

The case for it

Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association,

said those responding to accidents and emergencies may be exposed to blood or

other bodily fluids that can transmit diseases.

“It’s good public policy to recognize that you have a dangerous occupation and

we’re not going to force you to prove where you got a sickness,” Palmer said.

Palmer said he was not aware of a case in which an emergency responder in the

state contracted an infectious disease and was denied benefits.

The case against it

The bill could lead to higher costs for local governments with already strained

budgets, said Reinemann, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Counties Association.

Reinemann said it would often be difficult if not impossible to prove that an

emergency responder didn’t contract AIDS or another infectious disease on the

job. No estimates have been made of the possible increased costs to the pension

system and the local governments who pay into it.

“Creating a blanket presumption affects every case of this sort, regardless of

the facts in the case,” he said.

The bill’s author, Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, said there would be few such

cases and a relatively modest cost associated with them.

To get involved

You can testify for or against the bill at a hearing at 10 a.m. on Tuesday in

Room 201 Southeast at the Capitol.

To contact lawmakers to oppose or support the bill, use the legislative hot

line, which is staffed from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. weekdays, call 800-362-9472.

To send an e-mail, log onto the Legislature’s Web page at www.legis.state.wi.us,

select Senate or Assembly, and follow the link to the e-mail directory.

— Stein

Posted in Govt_and_politics on Sunday, February 7, 2010 7:15 am Updated: 7:26

am. Emergency Responders, Wisconsin Professional Police Association, Wisconsin

Counties Association