House panel adopts substitute and recommends firefighter cancer trust fund bill to full House

Representative Tuscher introduced the second substitute to HB416 as a companion to last yearixes that expanded presumptive cancers and screening. The new measure establishes a trust fund to bridge a gap between diagnosis and workers' compensation payouts so firefighters can begin timely treatment without waiting for claims to process. The bill tasks a board at the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy with recommending benefit levels, investments and how trust benefits should coordinate with workers' compensation awards.

Chief Clint Smith of the Draper Fire Department and other fire-service witnesses emphasized cancer as a major occupational risk. "Firefighting has been listed as . . . a class 1 carcinogen," Chief Smith said, urging the legislature to prevent delays in treatment that can worsen outcomes. Lehi Fire Chief Jeremy Craft recounted his own prostate and renal cancer diagnoses and said that without personal savings he would have delayed care; he urged support for a fund that provides immediate access to care.

Funding for the trust fund would come from an allocation of fire-insurance-premium-tax receipts that currently flow into the URS Tier 1 firefighters retirement account; sponsors said the trust would receive overflow once the Tier 1 account is fully funded, up to a stated cap. When asked about the fiscal note, the sponsor explained the $10,000,000 figure is a maximum annual overflow amount, not a guaranteed recurring appropriation.

The committee adopted the second substitute. Representative Jack then moved a favorable recommendation for HB416 with the second substitute; the committee voted 7–1 to forward the bill to the full House with a favorable recommendation, with Representative Hansen recorded as the sole no vote.

Sponsor and witnesses consistently emphasized that the bill intends to avoid general-fund spending by using dedicated insurance-premium revenues and to provide rapid support for diagnosed firefighters while workers' compensation claims are adjudicated.