Gov. Polis vetoes SB26-184

Last week, CML Executive Director Kevin Bommer applauded Gov. Jared Polis' veto of Senate Bill 26-184, "Firefighter Cancer Benefits and Workers' Compensation," calling it a necessary step to protect Colorado taxpayers and preserve the collaborative approach to firefighter benefits that has served the state well since 2017.

"We are grateful that Gov. Polis recognized the serious fiscal and procedural concerns that SB26-184 posed for Colorado's municipalities," he said. "This veto is not a rejection of firefighter protections. It is an affirmation that burdensome unfunded mandates are unacceptable and that protections for our firefighters already exists in the Firefighter Heart, Cancer, and Behavioral Health Benefits Trust that CML helped create."

Members may recall that CML is a proud founding partner of the Trust, created in 2017. CML was a founding partner because we agreed that the workers' compensation system is complicated and unpredictable. Bommer continued, "SB26-184 would have threatened the Trust's long-term sustainability by driving up costs and potentially discouraging municipal participation."

CML remains committed to working with the General Assembly, firefighters, and public employers to strengthen participation in the Trust and ensure that Colorado's firefighters continue to receive the protections they have earned — through a process that is fair, fiscally responsible, and inclusive of all stakeholders.

CML opposed SB26-184 on two fundamental grounds. First, the bill’s laudable goal was not aligned with necessary funding. Without providing any new funding, reimbursement, or transitional support, the bill would have dramatically expanded the cancers presumed to be occupational diseases and raised the bar for taxpayer-funded employers to overcome that presumption to an impossible level. With the state estimating costs of approximately $1 million per workers' compensation cancer claim, the fiscal impact on Colorado's approximately 12,000 locally employed firefighters would have been exponentially greater than the $2 million annual cost that led the General Assembly to explicitly exempt the state's own 160 firefighters from the bill's coverage.

Second, CML raised serious concerns about the process by which the bill advanced. SB26-184 at the end of the session was introduced without warning and without any attempt to engage municipalities, fire districts, insurers, or the communities that would finance its costs — and it advanced to final passage in just over two weeks. Legislation with this level of consequence for public budgets deserves a collaborative process that includes all affected parties.

This year, the Colorado legislature passed many laws that will have ramifications for cities and towns. To find out more about them, read CML's recent article, New Laws for Immediate Attention. And later this month, CML will publish the 2026 edition of our annual book, Laws Enacted Affecting Municipal Governments. Look for it soon on the CML website!