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Effort To Expand Police Mental Health Coverage Progresses

Scott Davidson/Flickr

An effort to extend workers' compensation coverage to Connecticut police officers suffering from mental injuries has cleared a key hurdle after years of defeat.

The state Senate voted 25-11 early Friday morning in favor of legislation to cover job-related mental health injuries that did not arise from a physical injury. But the proposal also encompassed another bill that extends workers' compensation coverage to certain firefighters who acquire various forms of cancer.

The decision to combine those two new mandates on cities and towns into one bill has prompted the state's largest organization of municipalities to fight the legislation in the House of Representatives.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities plans to unveil a radio campaign next week urging lawmakers to kill the bill, saying it's too costly for local taxpayers.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.