Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 288-131 to approve and advance the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, a bipartisan measure authored by Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) that ensures federal firefighters receive the same access to job-related disability and retirement benefits as state, county, and municipal firefighters.

Carbajal’s measure would create the presumption that federal firefighters who become disabled by serious diseases–including heart disease, lung disease, certain cancers, and other infectious diseases–contracted the illness on the job.

Federal firefighters do not have the presumption that local firefighters have in 49 out of 50 U.S. states– and are forced to identify specific exposures that may have caused their illness. This burden of proof makes it extraordinarily difficult for federal firefighters to qualify for workers comp and disability benefits related to their work.