WSI proposes $30,000 base wage to calculate volunteer wage-loss benefits

Tim Wallen, representing Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI), described a draft Century Code section that would set a $30,000 base yearly wage for volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical services personnel when computing wage-loss (disability) payments under the workers'comp system. "It would set a base yearly wage of $30,000 or your actual wages whichever is higher using those to compute your lost wages... paid at two thirds of the wage," Wallen said.

WSI explained the proposal would be codified in Title 65 (workers'comp) and would define "volunteer," "firefighting activities," and emergency medical services personnel for the statute; it would also reference the $10,000 volunteer-earnings immunity in Title 23. Committee members asked about the fiscal and actuarial impact, and Wallen said the agency had not yet run a full actuarial analysis for including EMS volunteers and recommended that fiscal analysis precede any statutory change.

Some legislators suggested tying any volunteer threshold or base to an indexed benchmark (for example, a share of minimum wage) rather than a fixed dollar figure to avoid long-term obsolescence. WSI agreed that further analysis would be needed before adoption.