HB 2191

                                                PRINTER'S NO.   2853
                THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
                    HOUSE BILL
                    No. 2191
                                          Session of
                                            2026
INTRODUCED BY McNEILL, HILL-EVANS, PROBST, HOHENSTEIN, BRENNAN,
   NEILSON, HOWARD, RIVERA, SANCHEZ, PIELLI, HANBIDGE, FREEMAN,
   McANDREW, HARKINS, GALLAGHER, BOYD, DOUGHERTY, D. WILLIAMS
   AND KAZEEM, FEBRUARY 2, 2026
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, FEBRUARY 3, 2026
                               AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 2, 1915 (P.L.736, No.338), entitled "An
2    act defining the liability of an employer to pay damages for
3    injuries received by an employe in the course of employment;
4    establishing an elective schedule of compensation; providing
5    procedure for the determination of liability and compensation
6    thereunder; and prescribing penalties," in liability and
7    compensation, further providing for compensation for cancer
8    in the occupation of firefighter.
9    The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11    Section 1.    Section 301(f) of the act of June 2, 1915
12 (P.L.736, No.338), known as the Workers' Compensation Act, is
13 amended to read:
14    Section 301.    * * *
15    (f)   Compensation pursuant to cancer suffered by a
16 firefighter shall only be to those firefighters who [have served
17 four or more years in continuous firefighting duties, who] can
18 establish direct exposure to a carcinogen referred to in section
19 108(r) relating to cancer by a firefighter and have successfully
20 passed a physical examination prior to asserting a claim under
1 this subsection or prior to engaging in firefighting duties and
2 the examination failed to reveal any evidence of the condition
3 of cancer. The presumption of this subsection may be rebutted by
4 substantial competent evidence that shows that the firefighter's
5 cancer was not caused by the occupation of firefighting. Any
6 claim made by a member of a volunteer fire company shall be
7 based on evidence of direct exposure to a carcinogen referred to
8 in section 108(r) as documented by reports filed pursuant to the
9 Pennsylvania Fire Information Reporting System and provided that
10 the member's claim is based on direct exposure to a carcinogen
11 referred to in section 108(r). Notwithstanding the limitation
12 under subsection (c)(2) with respect to disability or death
13 resulting from an occupational disease having to occur within
14 three hundred weeks after the last date of employment in an
15 occupation or industry to which a claimant was exposed to the
16 hazards of disease, claims filed pursuant to cancer suffered by
17 the firefighter under section 108(r) may be made within six
18 hundred weeks after the last date of employment in an occupation
19 or industry to which a claimant was exposed to the hazards of
20 disease. The presumption provided for under this subsection
21 shall only apply to claims made within the first three hundred
22 weeks.
23    * * *
24    Section 2.   This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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