The William "Dallas" Jones Cancer Presumption Act of 2010
Assemblyman Joe Coto (D-San Jose) has introduced AB 2253 on behalf of the California Professional Firefighters.
AB 2253 enacts the "William Dallas Jones Cancer Presumption Act of 2010." The bill seeks to expand the existing statute of limitations in a manner that more accurately reflects the increased risk to firefighters and other public safety personnel by those types of job-related cancers.
Joining Assembly Member Coto in introducing this measure are:
- Co-Authors: Assembly Members Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blumenfield, Chesbro, Cook, Fletcher, Fuentes, Hagman, Lieu, Mendoza, Nava, Portantino, Salas, and Villines
Current law provides a rebuttable presumption, which states that cancer that develops or manifests itself while the firefighter is on active duty shall be deemed job-related for the purposes of workers' compensation. This presumption is extended to a public safety officer for a period of three calendar months for each full year of service they worked, not to exceed 60 months beyond their last day of service.
Since the original cancer presumption statute was enacted over two decades ago, research and anecdotal evidence 
show:
- Some industrially-caused cancers actually manifest themselves well-beyond the existing 60 month statute of limitations.
- The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that the time from genetic cellular change to the development of cancer is called the latency period. Such a latency period can be 10 years or as long as 30 years or more, which means that some cancers diagnosed today may be due to genetic changes that occurred in the cells some time ago.
- Several of the cancers most closely associated with the firefighters and their profession (multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate, and testicular cancer) have a latency period longer than 60 months and likely closer to three to four decades.
Furthermore, CPF is aware of more than 50 studies that support the link between cancer and the carcinogens that firefighters are exposed to on the job. To see an Annotated Bibliography with these studies, click here.
Consequently, there is a critical need to extend the existing statute of limitations - from five years to 10 years -- to more accurately reflect the latency risk of detecting those types of job-related cancers that are contracted by firefighters and other public safety personnel after separation from service.
William "Dallas" Jones was a dedicated firefighter and labor leader in Los Angeles County for nearly 35 years. The passion and professionalism with which he conducted his duties as President for Los Angeles County Firefighters Local 1014 and later as Secretary/Treasurer for California Professional Firefighters made him an excellent choice when he was tapped by Governor Gray Davis to lead the state Office of Emergency Services as Director from 1999-2004. During his time at OES, Dallas responded to and was on the ground during a myriad of emergencies, including the devastating fire storms in 2003 that engulfed southern California. After leaving that post, he continued his work in the fire service labor movement by returning as Secretary-Treasurer for the California Professional Firefighters, even after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and ultimately succumbed to the insidious disease when it claimed his life in 2008.
This bill was introduced on February 19, 2010 and was referred to the Assembly Insurance Committee, where it was approved by an 11-1 vote. This was then referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it was placed on suspense. The bill was removed from suspense and passed out of the committee with a 12-5 vote on May 28th, 2010. AB 2253 then moved to the Assembly Floor where it was passed with a 68-4 vote on June 2nd, 2010.
During the discussion on the floor, Assembly Member Kevin Jeffries (R- Riverside) rose and spoke in favor of the bill and even helped to secure votes.
On June 23, 2010, this bill was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee by a 4-1 vote. This bill was then referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it was briefly placed on Suspense before being approved by a 7-4 vote. The bill then went to the Senate Floor where it was approved 25-9 on August 8th, 2010. This bill was signed into law by the Governor on September 30th and will take effect on January 1, 2011.
For questions, please contact CPF Legislative Director Amy Howard at ahoward@cpf.org.
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