DES MOINES, Iowa — A piece of bipartisan legislation championed by the Des Moines Association of Professional Firefighters is now dead at the statehouse after the Iowa Senate decided not to move it along.
The bill, House File 2482, would have ensured all cancers are covered under the disability coverage of all Iowa firefighters.
The potential dangers of developing cancer on the job as a firefighter have grown in recent years, according to Des Moines firefighter Joe Van Haalen.
"We've got 10 guys currently battling cancer, and in the last six months, we lost two of our members," Van Haalen said. "We're expected to go into houses in the worst conditions under some pretty rough circumstances, and we never fail to do that."
It's those dangers, and the bipartisan support this bill gathered, that's left both firefighters and their families in shock after learning the bill wasn’t prioritized by state senators.
Right now in Iowa, only 14 of the 200 known cancers are included in their disability coverage, which also means that the families of those who have fallen do not receive full death benefits.
Kelli Stoaks and her family have been navigating this challenge for months. She lost her husband Brian, a longtime Des Moines firefighter, to pancreatic cancer last August.
Stoaks has been lobbying for the bill since the very beginning.
"It just became very clear that I had to be a part of something bigger and a part of this change," she told Local 5.
Back in February, the bill passed out of the House unanimously. The legislation then moved over to the Senate.
Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, originally took up the bill for a subcommittee discussion, but told Local 5 on Thursday he wouldn’t be moving it forward.
"There were still some questions about the bill and whether it was the best way to support all of Iowa’s firefighters and some of the effects it may have on local governments," he said. "We do want to continue the conversation, work through some of those questions in the future, and talk about the best ways we can support those trying to protect us and our communities."
Both Stoaks and Van Haalen said they have had numerous conversations with city leaders across the state, addressing their concerns.
"This would not cost the state of Iowa anything. It's a city issue, and the unions have been meeting with city officials to ensure it's going to cost the firefighters, not them," Stoaks said.
Speaking to media members Thursday, Senate Major Leader Jack Whitver said, "I don't know why specifically he didn't put that bill through, but it's something, I trust Senator Schultz a lot ... he knows these issues, he researches them."
“To say I was disappointed as an understatement. I mean, I just was in disbelief that we never even got a chance to be heard," Stoaks told Local 5.
It’s not the outcome they had hoped for, but there is certainly hope for the future.
"We'll just regroup, we'll see what we can do for Senator Schultz to answer those questions, and we'll keep pushing forward," Van Haalen added.
Democratic state lawmakers also expressed their disappointment in the Senate’s handling of the bill. Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum said that the bill is officially dead, so no further action can be taken on it this legislative session.
