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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 299
Introduced by McDonnell, 5.
Read first time January 12, 2021
Committee: Revenue
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to firefighters; to amend section 77-2716,
2 Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2020; to adopt the
3 Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act; to provide for an income tax
4 exemption for such benefits; to provide an operative date; and to
5 repeal the original section.
6 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Sections 1 to 10 of this act shall be known and may be
2 cited as the Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act.
3 Sec. 2. For purposes of the Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act:
4 (1) Cancer means:
5 (a) A disease (i) caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal
6 cells in a part of the body or a malignant growth or tumor resulting from
7 the division of abnormal cells and (ii) affecting the prostate, breast,
8 or lung or the lymphatic, hematological, digestive, urinary,
9 neurological, or reproductive system; or
10 (b) Melanoma; and
11 (2) Firefighter means:
12 (a) A firefighter or firefighter-paramedic who is a member of a paid
13 fire department of a municipality or a rural or suburban fire protection
14 district in this state, including a municipality having a home rule
15 charter or a municipal authority created pursuant to a home rule charter
16 that has its own paid fire department;
17 (b) A firefighter or firefighter-paramedic who is a member of a paid
18 fire department of an airport authority; or
19 (c) A volunteer firefighter who has been deemed an employee under
20 subdivision (3) of section 48-115.
21 Sec. 3. Before any firefighter is entitled to benefits under the
22 Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act, such firefighter shall (1) have
23 successfully passed a physical examination which failed to reveal any
24 evidence of cancer and (2) have served at least twelve consecutive months
25 as a firefighter at any fire station within the State of Nebraska. After
26 serving at least twelve consecutive months as a firefighter, the
27 firefighter shall be deemed to be in compliance with subdivision (2) of
28 this section even with a break in service, so long as such break does not
29 exceed six months.
30 Sec. 4. (1) Beginning on and after the operative date of this act,
31 every rural or suburban fire protection district, airport authority,
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1 city, village, or nonprofit corporation shall provide and maintain
2 enhanced cancer benefits. Such benefits shall include, at a minimum, the
3 following:
4 (a) A lump-sum benefit of twenty-five thousand dollars for each
5 diagnosis payable to a firefighter upon acceptable proof to the insurance
6 carrier or other payor of a diagnosis by a board-certified physician in
7 the medical specialty appropriate for the type of cancer diagnosed that
8 there are one or more malignant tumors characterized by the
9 uncontrollable and abnormal growth and spread of malignant cells with
10 invasion of normal tissue, and that either:
11 (i) There is metastasis and:
12 (A) Surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy is medically necessary;
13 or
14 (B) There is a tumor of the prostate, provided that it is treated
15 with radical prostatectomy or external beam therapy; or
16 (ii) Such firefighter has terminal cancer, his or her life
17 expectancy is twenty-four months or less from the date of diagnosis, and
18 he or she will not benefit from, or has exhausted, curative therapy;
19 (b) A lump-sum benefit of six thousand two hundred fifty dollars for
20 each diagnosis payable to a firefighter upon acceptable proof to the
21 insurance carrier or other payor of a diagnosis by a board-certified
22 physician in the medical specialty appropriate for the type of cancer
23 involved that either:
24 (i) There is carcinoma in situ such that surgery, radiotherapy, or
25 chemotherapy has been determined to be medically necessary;
26 (ii) There are malignant tumors which are treated by endoscopic
27 procedures alone; or
28 (iii) There are malignant melanomas; and
29 (c)(i) A monthly benefit of one thousand five hundred dollars
30 payable to a firefighter, of which the first payment shall be made six
31 months after total disability and submission of acceptable proof of such
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1 disability to the insurance carrier or other payor that such disability
2 is caused by cancer and that such cancer precludes the firefighter from
3 serving as a firefighter. Such benefit shall continue for up to thirty-
4 six consecutive monthly payments.
5 (ii) Such monthly benefit shall be subordinate to any other benefit
6 actually paid to the firefighter solely for such disability from any
7 other source, not including private insurance purchased solely by the
8 firefighter, and shall be limited to the difference between the amount of
9 such other pay benefit and the amount specified in this section.
10 (iii) Any firefighter receiving such monthly benefit may be required
11 to have his or her condition reevaluated. In the event any such
12 reevaluation reveals that such person has regained the ability to perform
13 duties as a firefighter, then his or her monthly benefits shall cease the
14 last day of the month of the reevaluation.
15 (iv) In the event that there is a subsequent reoccurrence of a
16 disability caused by cancer which precludes the firefighter from serving
17 as a firefighter, he or she shall be entitled to receive any remaining
18 monthly benefits.
19 (2) A firefighter shall also be entitled to an additional payment of
20 enhanced cancer death benefits in the amount of fifty thousand dollars
21 payable to his or her beneficiary or, if no beneficiary is named, to such
22 firefighter's estate upon acceptable proof by a board-certified physician
23 that such firefighter's death resulted from complications associated with
24 cancer.
25 (3) A firefighter shall be ineligible for benefits under the
26 Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act if he or she is already provided paid
27 firefighter cancer benefits pursuant to section 35-1001.
28 Sec. 5. The combined total of all benefits received by any
29 firefighter pursuant to subdivisions (1)(a) and (b) of section 4 of this
30 act during his or her lifetime shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars.
31 Sec. 6. Any firefighter who was simultaneously a member of more
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1 than one fire department at the time of diagnosis shall not be entitled
2 to receive benefits under the Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act from or on
3 behalf of more than one of such fire departments. In the event a
4 volunteer of one fire department is simultaneously employed as a
5 firefighter who is a member of a paid fire department of a municipality,
6 an airport authority, or a rural or suburban fire protection district,
7 the rural or suburban fire protection district, city, village, or
8 nonprofit corporation for which such person serves as a volunteer shall
9 not be required to maintain benefits on such volunteer otherwise required
10 under the Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act during the period of time of
11 such employment.
12 Sec. 7. A firefighter shall remain eligible for benefits pursuant
13 to subdivisions (1)(a) and (b) and subsection (2) of section 4 of this
14 act for sixty months after the formal cessation of the firefighter's
15 status as a firefighter. The rural or suburban fire protection district,
16 airport authority, city, village, or nonprofit corporation for which such
17 firefighter served shall be responsible for payment of all premiums or
18 other costs associated with benefits provided under subsections (1) and
19 (2) of section 4 of this act throughout the duration of the firefighter's
20 coverage.
21 Sec. 8. A rural or suburban fire protection district, airport
22 authority, city, village, or nonprofit corporation shall, no later than
23 January 1, 2022, maintain proof of insurance coverage that meets the
24 requirements of the Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act or shall maintain
25 satisfactory proof of the ability to pay such compensation to ensure
26 adequate coverage for all firefighters. Sufficient documentation of
27 satisfactory proof of the ability to pay such compensation to ensure
28 adequate coverage for all firefighters shall be required and shall comply
29 with rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the State Fire
30 Marshal. Such coverage shall remain in effect until sixty months after
31 the rural or suburban fire protection district, airport authority, city,
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1 village, or nonprofit corporation no longer has any firefighters who
2 could qualify for benefits under the act.
3 Sec. 9. Any rural or suburban fire protection district, airport
4 authority, city, village, or nonprofit corporation that has had a
5 firefighter file a claim for or receive cancer benefits under the
6 Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act shall report such claims filed, claims
7 paid, and types of claims to the State Fire Marshal. Beginning on
8 December 1, 2023, the State Fire Marshal shall submit electronically an
9 annual report to the Legislature and Governor stating the number of
10 firefighters who have filed claims pursuant to the act and the number of
11 firefighters who have received benefits under the act.
12 Sec. 10. The State Fire Marshal may adopt and promulgate rules and
13 regulations necessary to carry out the Firefighter Cancer Benefits Act.
14 Sec. 11. Section 77-2716, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
15 2020, is amended to read:
16 77-2716 (1) The following adjustments to federal adjusted gross
17 income or, for corporations and fiduciaries, federal taxable income shall
18 be made for interest or dividends received:
19 (a)(i) There shall be subtracted interest or dividends received by
20 the owner of obligations of the United States and its territories and
21 possessions or of any authority, commission, or instrumentality of the
22 United States to the extent includable in gross income for federal income
23 tax purposes but exempt from state income taxes under the laws of the
24 United States; and
25 (ii) There shall be subtracted interest received by the owner of
26 obligations of the State of Nebraska or its political subdivisions or
27 authorities which are Build America Bonds to the extent includable in
28 gross income for federal income tax purposes;
29 (b) There shall be subtracted that portion of the total dividends
30 and other income received from a regulated investment company which is
31 attributable to obligations described in subdivision (a) of this
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1 subsection as reported to the recipient by the regulated investment
2 company;
3 (c) There shall be added interest or dividends received by the owner
4 of obligations of the District of Columbia, other states of the United
5 States, or their political subdivisions, authorities, commissions, or
6 instrumentalities to the extent excluded in the computation of gross
7 income for federal income tax purposes except that such interest or
8 dividends shall not be added if received by a corporation which is a
9 regulated investment company;
10 (d) There shall be added that portion of the total dividends and
11 other income received from a regulated investment company which is
12 attributable to obligations described in subdivision (c) of this
13 subsection and excluded for federal income tax purposes as reported to
14 the recipient by the regulated investment company; and
15 (e)(i) Any amount subtracted under this subsection shall be reduced
16 by any interest on indebtedness incurred to carry the obligations or
17 securities described in this subsection or the investment in the
18 regulated investment company and by any expenses incurred in the
19 production of interest or dividend income described in this subsection to
20 the extent that such expenses, including amortizable bond premiums, are
21 deductible in determining federal taxable income.
22 (ii) Any amount added under this subsection shall be reduced by any
23 expenses incurred in the production of such income to the extent
24 disallowed in the computation of federal taxable income.
25 (2) There shall be allowed a net operating loss derived from or
26 connected with Nebraska sources computed under rules and regulations
27 adopted and promulgated by the Tax Commissioner consistent, to the extent
28 possible under the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967, with the laws of the
29 United States. For a resident individual, estate, or trust, the net
30 operating loss computed on the federal income tax return shall be
31 adjusted by the modifications contained in this section. For a
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1 nonresident individual, estate, or trust or for a partial-year resident
2 individual, the net operating loss computed on the federal return shall
3 be adjusted by the modifications contained in this section and any
4 carryovers or carrybacks shall be limited to the portion of the loss
5 derived from or connected with Nebraska sources.
6 (3) There shall be subtracted from federal adjusted gross income for
7 all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1987, the amount of
8 any state income tax refund to the extent such refund was deducted under
9 the Internal Revenue Code, was not allowed in the computation of the tax
10 due under the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967, and is included in federal
11 adjusted gross income.
12 (4) Federal adjusted gross income, or, for a fiduciary, federal
13 taxable income shall be modified to exclude the portion of the income or
14 loss received from a small business corporation with an election in
15 effect under subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code or from a limited
16 liability company organized pursuant to the Nebraska Uniform Limited
17 Liability Company Act that is not derived from or connected with Nebraska
18 sources as determined in section 77-2734.01.
19 (5) There shall be subtracted from federal adjusted gross income or,
20 for corporations and fiduciaries, federal taxable income dividends
21 received or deemed to be received from corporations which are not subject
22 to the Internal Revenue Code.
23 (6) There shall be subtracted from federal taxable income a portion
24 of the income earned by a corporation subject to the Internal Revenue
25 Code of 1986 that is actually taxed by a foreign country or one of its
26 political subdivisions at a rate in excess of the maximum federal tax
27 rate for corporations. The taxpayer may make the computation for each
28 foreign country or for groups of foreign countries. The portion of the
29 taxes that may be deducted shall be computed in the fo