Lawmakers Try Again to Give Firefighters Access to Cancer Benefits

One year after Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a similar bill, six Georgia lawmakers have introduced a measure to give firefighters access to workers' compensation benefits for cancer. House Bill 152 would allow firefighters with more than five consecutive years of service to receive benefits for cancer if they could prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the disease is linked to work. The bill was read last week and referred to the House Committee on Industry and Labor.   Currently, Georgia workers' compensation law considers cancer "an ordinary disease of life" and ...