A failed opportunity to protect the Hoosiers that protect us
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This legislative session, Indiana followed Washington, D.C.’s worst instincts of cutting vital public safety protections while claiming fiscal responsibility. Firefighters across our state are now more vulnerable.
In 2023, I authored legislation making Indiana the first state in the nation to fund a PFAS biomonitoring pilot program to test firefighters’ blood for dangerous, man-made chemicals. These “forever chemicals,” found in gear and firefighting foam, are linked to cancer, infertility, and long-term illness. Cancer remains the leading cause of line-of-duty death in the fire service.
We had momentum. Indiana banned aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) in fire training exercises. We launched a disposal program that safely removed over 48,000 gallons of toxic foam from firehouses statewide. Over 1,000 firefighters voluntarily signed up for the PFAS pilot, eager to better understand their risk and protect their health. The bipartisan commitment to their safety was clear.
Then came this legislative session.
Despite the overwhelming interest and modest $200,000 price tag, funding for the biomonitoring program was gutted in House Bill 1001, now law, the state budget. The decision is more than disappointing: it’s dangerous. Indiana firefighters will now be left without essential health services, even as their risks remain high and growing.
To make matters worse, lawmakers also passed Senate Bill 1, which is now law. Marketed as a tax cut, the bill effectively shrinks the revenue base that funds local governments, fire departments, police, and public safety agencies. In cities like South Bend, that means a projected 20% loss in property tax revenue by 2028, according to local officials.
What does that look like on the ground? It means delayed equipment upgrades, frozen firefighter positions, longer emergency response times, and fewer resources for fire prevention and training.
Firefighters in South Bend and across Indiana are now being asked to do more with less—work without long-term health monitoring, rely on shrinking budgets, and shoulder the risks while the state steps away. This is truly a devastating reversal of progress, and one that shifts the burden from the state to cities without providing the tools or funding to manage it.
This is not fiscal responsibility. It’s cost-shifting wrapped in slogans. And it betrays the very people who put their lives on the line to protect us.
In a state that once led the nation in firefighter safety, we’ve chosen to step back when we should be stepping up. When did fiscally conservative Indiana get so broke that we can’t afford $200,000 for firefighter cancer prevention?
In a reckless new era of “cut now, justify never,” Indiana chose fiscal theater over service. And the people paying the price are the very ones who show up for us in our most helpless moments.
Let me be clear: this wasn’t a bloated program. It wasn’t wasteful spending. It was a voluntary, data-driven initiative to provide lifesaving information to those who risk their lives to protect ours. You don’t get more fiscally responsible, or more morally urgent, than that.
The truth is this isn’t about money. Indiana is spending hundreds of millions on new programs, tax breaks, and out-of-state contracts. But when it came time to fund something with bipartisan support and proven public health value, firefighters were told to wait.
They shouldn’t have to.
I’ve worked alongside families and colleagues who lost loved ones to cancer to pass this legislation in their honor. I’ve testified, advocated, and negotiated across the aisle to reverse the rising tide of cancer diagnoses in the fire service. Yet now, despite the program’s launch in 2023 with bipartisan support, this budget leaves it without a dime of continued funding.
That commitment wasn’t just forgotten. It was abandoned through budget choices and policies that weaken public safety across the board.
We had a chance to continue leading nationally on cancer prevention in the fire service. Instead, we’re sending firefighters back into the fire without answers, without data, and without the tools they need to protect themselves and their communities.
Public safety is about more than budgets and press conferences. When the public is looking to their elected leaders to “Be Bold,” those running our state are cutting and running. If we can find room for new tax breaks and corporate incentives, we can certainly find room to protect the people who protect us.
Hoosiers deserve better than empty rhetoric. They deserve leaders who back public safety with action, not empty promises.