LANCASTER, Mass. (AP) - Voters in Lancaster once again will decide whether to provide health insurance benefits to the widow of a call firefighter killed last year in the line of duty.
Town residents, by 16 votes, defeated a tax override initiative Nov. 2 that would have paid for a pension for the family of firefighter Martin H. McNamara, 31, who left behind his wife and three young daughters, including a baby born five days after he was killed. Like the state's thousands of other on-call firefighters, McNamara was not covered by any type of accidental death policy when he died while battling an apartment fire Nov. 29, 2003.
Lancaster, a town of about 7,000 residents some 40 miles west of Boston, and other communities with part-time fire departments legally are not required to pay survivor benefits to families of firefighters who die on the job.
A single-question ballot Feb. 7 will ask voters to accept a special act that would make Claire B. McNamara and her dependents eligible for health insurance through the town, as long as she remains unmarried. Voting yes on the question will not require a rise in taxes, Town Administrator Alan L. Agnelli said in a news release Tuesday.
Mrs. McNamara, who lives in Clinton, would pay one-half of the insurance premiums, as retirees do. The town would pick up the rest.
Monday, Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law a bill requiring Lancaster officials to hold the special election within 35 days. In an accompanying letter, Romney said he hopes to work with the Legislature this year to ensure that such benefits would be granted to surviving families without communities' having to resort to special acts of legislation.
Lancaster residents had set up a charitable fund shortly after the fire after being told there were to be no pension or death benefits for the family. Also, Mrs. McNamara has received about $400,000 in one-time local, state and federal accidental death benefits.
Related
- Massachusetts Lawmakers May Soon Pass Bill To Help Family Of Fallen Firefighter
- Massachusetts Lawmakers File Bill to Cover Death Benefit for Call Firefighter's Family
- Massachusetts Firefighter's Widow Denied Death Benefit
- Mass. Town Votes No On LODD Benefits
- NIOSH Releases Nov. 2003 Mass. LODD Report
