The Iowa House has voted to insure police and firefighters in Oskaloosa, Ottumwa and 47 other Iowa cities who are part of a statewide pension and disability system are covered for work-related injuries that developed over time.  Representative Dave Williams is from Waterloo, one of the 49 Iowa cities where public safety employees would be covered for physical and mental conditions that develop over time.

“So many times our public safety people go into these situations and then years later suffer the consequences,”

Just before the House voted on the bill, Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton acknowledged several firefighters and police officers covered by the 4-1-1 system who were in the House gallery, watching the debate.

 “Those are our police officers and our firefighters that not only during the pandemic but also during the duration of their career have had our backs and are going to continue to have our backs. And so this is our way of saying, ‘Thank you, we’ve got yours.'”

Police and firefighters in Oskaloosa, Ottumwa, Grinnell, Newton and Fairfield would be covered in the bill, along with police in Pella and Knoxville.  The bill passed the House unanimously. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.