Supporting Firefighters Suffering from PTSD
By State Senator Page Walley
Among many important bills we are advancing in the Senate is a proposal that seeks to reduce stigma and provide support for firefighters following a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. The measure was unanimously passed in our Commerce and Labor committee.
The bill allows firefighters diagnosed with PTSD as a result of their service to receive resources through their workers’ compensation benefits plan. It also establishes a grant program to mitigate the cost to an employer providing worker’s compensation for firefighters diagnosed with PTSD. In order to qualify for the grant, employers must provide mental health awareness training as part of their continuing education program.
The most significant threat to firefighters in Tennessee is suicide, which far exceeds the number of deaths while responding, and research has confirmed that unresolved PTSD is the root cause. Reducing the stigma and removing barriers to early care will make for cheaper claims, healthier firefighters and safer communities.
Prohibiting implicit bias training requirements in schools
A bill that prohibits school districts, public charter schools and public institutions of higher education from requiring employees to take implicit bias training passed the Education Committee. It also prohibits adverse employment actions from being taken against employees who refuse to participate in the training.
The bill defines “implicit bias training” as a training or educational program designed to expose an individual to biases that the training’s developer presumes the individual to unconsciously, subconsciously, or unintentionally possess. As defined in the bill, implicit bias training predisposes the individual to be unfairly prejudiced in favor of or against a person or group and seeks to adjust the individual’s patterns of thinking in order to eliminate the individual’s unconscious bias or prejudice.
Employment at Tennessee education institutions should not be contingent on a training program that presumes them to be racist or biased.
Expanding virtual programs at schools
My bill which allows a school district that has an established virtual school to enter an agreement with a school district that doesn’t have one. The virtual school may provide remote instruction to students enrolled in either school district who have been suspended or expelled from the regular school program. This legislation would be especially useful in our rural counties.
I want to hear from you
I also want to invite everyone to participate in a telephone townhall with me on March 14, 2023, at 6 p.m. During this event, I will be taking questions from callers about issues before us in the General Assembly. If you would like to participate please call (855) 269-4484 at the start of the event.
If you need to contact me for any reason please email me at sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov or call my office at (615) 741-2368. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve as your state senator.
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