Can a firefighter preside over firefighter bills? Here's what the RI Ethics Commission said

PROVIDENCE — State Rep. Stephen Casey, a Woonsocket firefighter, won Ethics Commission clearance on Tuesday to preside over hearings and vote on a package of bills sought by the state's firefighter lobby to open the doors to more two-thirds pay, tax-free disability pensions.

Among those taking part in the unanimous Ethics Commission vote was Arianne Corrente, the vice chair of the commission — and wife of new Providence Fire Chief Derek Silva — and Holly Susi, the wife of Richard Susi, the lead State House lobbyist for the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs, after the Ethics Commission's legal counsel, Herbert DeSimone, advised them he saw no conflict.

The commission's vote came in response to Casey's request for advice on whether he can preside, participate in the discussion and vote as chairman of the House Committee on Municipal Government & Housing.

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What are the firefighter bills?

His committee was queued up to hear three bills involving firefighters last month, including one championed by Rep. Robert Craven, son of a Providence firefighter, that would automatically qualify firefighters with heart conditions, hypertension or stroke for disability pensions for life.

An earlier version of the bill was vetoed by then-Gov. Gina Raimondo in 2017. This year's bill acknowledges that regular or habitual use of tobacco can contribute to medical conditions, but it adds it as a disqualifier only for firefighters hired after July 1, 2023.

A second bill would extend to EMTs in at least two communities the same presumption given firefighters who get cancer: that it was the result of their exposure to chemicals and other hazards on the job.

The third is Casey's bill, which would grant injured-on-duty status – or alternatively, an accidental disability pension – to police officers and firefighters suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder: he says the intent is not to get people "pensioned off."

Casey, a full-time firefighter and emergency medical technician in Woonsocket since 2006, asked if he needed to recuse himself from running the hearings and voting on the bills.

What did the Ethics Commission say?

The Ethics Commission, on the advice of its staff, told Casey there was no reason for him to stand back.

"It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that [Casey] ... may participate in the House Municipal Government & Housing Committee’s discussions and votes on proposed legislation that would impact firefighters, notwithstanding [his] employment as a full-time professional firefighter in the City of Woonsocket.

The rationale? While the Ethics Code bars public officials from taking part "in any matter in which he has an interest, financial or otherwise, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest," there is what is broadly called "a class exception."

As used often by the Ethics Commission, the “class exception” means the public official will not benefit to any "greater extent than any other similarly situated member of the business, profession, occupation or group."

"In the instant matter, passage of the subject legislation would have broad impact on all firefighters, including EMS/rescue personnel .... [Casey] would be impacted to no greater extent than other similarly situated firefighters."

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Previous Ethics Commission rulings on conflicts of interest

This has been the stance of the Ethics Commission in most if not all cases where lawmakers sought advice or were accused of conflicts of interest: There is none if the lawmaker is advocating for new and expanded benefits for people in their "class."

After Tuesday's Ethics Commission vote, Casey told The Journal he had not yet decided what he would do when the postposed firefighter bills are rescheduled for hearing by his committee, but he said he is aware of "the optics," and may abstain.

He told The Journal last month he had already decided to step aside as chairman, temporarily, to testify on his own bill related to PTSD given his strong personal feelings on the toll that the sight of unspeakable events takes on firefighters.

He wants his legislative colleagues to know: "I've seen severed limbs. I've held severed limbs while we move someone onto a stretcher. I've dealt, most recently, with a nine-month-old who had his face torn off by a pit bull."

"Those are things that stick with you,'' he told The Journal last month, ahead of the anticipated hearing on his latest effort to qualify firefighters suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder for 100% injured-on-duty pay.

The hearing was postponed to give him time to seek the Ethics Commission's opinion.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Ethics Commission: Rep. Casey can preside over firefighter bills