The Legislature can't vote to bring Kenny and Becky Little's son back, but the Ringgold, Ga., couple says a decision Wednesday will prevent the next family who loses a son or daughter in the line of duty from some of the hassles and headaches they've experienced over the last 15 months.
"It's not just for us, it's for the next one," Mr. Little said Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Georgia Senate voted in favor of the Jarrett Little Act, which changes who can receive indemnity benefits when an emergency worker is killed in the line of duty. The bill now goes before the House and, if passed, would go to Gov. Sonny Perdue to be signed into law.
The couples' son, whose name the law bears, was a 23-year-old Walker County firefighter who died on the way to a fire on Dec. 31, 2008, when the fire truck he was driving rolled and hit a utility pole while turning onto McFarland Avenue in Rossville.
Based on unintended consequences from a 2008 law expanding the indemnity coverage for such accidents, Mr. Little's parents got a letter saying that, because their son was single and had no children, the state would not pay out any of the indemnity benefit that covers nearly all safety workers in Georgia.
"It shouldn't ever have gotten by the way it did," Mr. Little said.
The 2008 law, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, extended indemnity coverage to most police, firefighters, emergency workers, prison guards and highway workers and increased the benefit payment to $100,000.
The bill's language, however, stated that benefits can go only to dependents, defined as spouses or children.
Sen. Mullis, a former fire chief, was notified of the loophole last year and pledged to add other benefactors through legislation this year.
"It shouldn't matter if they are married, single or without a dependent," said Sen. Mullis, who sponsored the recent bill. "Their indemnification fund should stay with the family."
Walker County Fire Chief Randy Camp said he knows several single firefighters who take care of older parents or family members. Others have mortgages and car payments that would fall to family members if they died, he said.
"Single people have debt also that needs to be paid off," he said. "I know they would not want to see that house go back to the bank."
Mr. Little said his son had a car payment, some credit card debt and owed tax money on his 2008 return. His parents took on the payments after his death.
Mr. Little hasn't been informed as to whether the law will be retroactive or if he and his wife would qualify for the funding now that the law has passed.
"It's not going to bring him back by any means, but we'll keep him in our memories," he said.
Chief Camp, who was Jarrett Little's boss, said he was surprised the cogs of government turned as quickly as they did, and said the unanimous vote in the Senate shows the legislators' support.
"Usually government's a little slow in doing things," the chief said. "I think they realize that there was a mistake made."
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