VIDEO: Iowaโs first responders will now have better benefits if they get diagnosed with cancer. Friday, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill expanding coverage for Iowaโs firefighters and law enforcement. Kelli Stoaksโ husband Brian was a Des Moines firefighter for 27 years. He battled pancreatic cancer and died in 2023.
โHe, you know, never thought about the fact that he could get sick from doing his job. He just did it because it was the right thing to do. From the time he was in kindergarten, thatโs all he wanted to do was be a firefighter and he made his dream come true,โ she said. Stoaks says that her husbandโs cancer wasnโt a type of cancer that was covered under state law.
โAny of his shifts that he wasnโt able to work, he would have to use sick leave. And his sick leave quickly would have run out, but all of the members of the Local 4 Des Moines union, they stepped up and they covered his shifts right away and took care of our family when he wasnโt able to work,โ she said.
Friday, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill expanding disability benefits for first responders to include all forms of cancer. โThis legislation is the least that we can do for those willing to make countless sacrifices up to and including the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf,โ Reynolds said.
