Utah’s congressional delegation wants to keep RECA going, with concerns about expanding costs

A fireball rises into the sky over Nevada after the U.S. government detonated a 61-kiloton device on June 4, 1953. Nuclear weapons experiments at the Nevada Test Site spread fallout to other states, including Arizona, research and records show. (Getty Images)

Just days before the expiration of a federal compensation fund to help people exposed to radiation from U.S. nuclear weapons development, Utahns in Congress say they are committed to continuing and maybe even expanding eligibility, so long as the cost remains in check.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, faces its sunset on June 10 if Congress doesn’t act to extend it. Meanwhile, downwinders, uranium miners and cancer patients currently excluded from the act have long called to be included.

Congress potentially has three options, if it takes action.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee has introduced legislation that would extend RECA as-is for two more years. The bill is backed in the House by Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens.

Meanwhile, Maloy also supports a bill initially introduced in 2023 by Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman that would extend RECA benefits to people who worked in a uranium mine or mill until 1978.

And a third bill from Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley would widely expand the program, allowing residents of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Guam not previously eligible to apply for compensation. Utahns in Congress have balked at the bill’s price tag.

Radius: The legacy of America’s nuclear weapons testing program from States Newsroom and MuckRock

Utahns who lived in 10 counties — Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington or Wayne — for two consecutive years from 1951 to 1958, or during the summer of 1962, and contracted certain types of cancer are currently eligible for compensation, as are people who worked in uranium mines, mills or transporting ore in Utah from 1942 to 1971.

However, research shows that the whole state was exposed to dangerous levels of radiation from nuclear weapons testing. And RECA failed to cover residents who worked in but didn’t live in eligible counties.

Maloy, whose district includes areas of southern Utah included in the current version of RECA, told Utah News Dispatch that the state’s delegation is unified in wanting to ensure compensation continues for downwinders.

“It’s really important in Utah, especially in my district, that the people who were exposed to radiation because mushroom clouds came over their houses through no fault of their own, they didn’t make any choices here, this is something the federal government did, and has admitted culpability for now, this is a debt that they owe to these families,” Maloy said. “So we’re working to make sure that the federal government makes good on those promises and makes good on that debt.”

While Maloy has said RECA should be expanded to cover all of Utah, she is concerned about finding a “right-sized” solution for the bill, saying there are “wrong-sized” proposals that are complicating the debate.

“I’m not drawing a hard line on what the right answer is yet,” Maloy said of the debate between extending or expanding RECA. “I’m willing to work with my colleagues to make sure we get to the right answer. But that right answer has to include covering the Utahns and others who were exposed from above-ground nuclear testing.”

‘How much money are our lives worth?’: Utah downwinders call RECA expansion’s failure a betrayal

Though the clock is ticking, Maloy said she’s reassured that “Congress is really good at acting at the last minute.” And even if it means accepting a stopgap extension for now, she hopes a “right-size” solution can be found. 

Like Maloy, Rep. Blake Moore spoke favorably about Hageman’s proposal to bring uranium miners into the bill, which he called “middle ground.” Hawley’s expansion, however, is too expensive, he said.

“We will figure out a way to get this in the right spot, it’s important enough to people, but we can’t do it in a massively expensive way, like the Sen. Hawley (bill) wants to do. It’s got to be more toned down,” Moore said.

Moore said he is “confident it will be reauthorized,” even if that doesn’t happen by the June 10 deadline.

Rep. John Curtis said that while he currently supports legislation to extend without widely expanding RECA, “it would be perfect if the bills could merge, so we bring that support together.” 

U.S. House speaker reverses on radiation compensation bill that excluded Missouri

Rep. Burgess Owens noted that when RECA got its last two-year extension, the intent was that Congress would have time to work on who is covered under the act.

“And we just can’t keep pushing it forward two years and getting nothing out of it,” Owens said.

Utah Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney were among those who voted against Hawley’s expansion bill when it passed the Senate in March. A spokesperson for Romney on Thursday told Utah News Dispatch that while the senator voted to extend RECA in 2022 and supports continuing it again, the price tag on Hawley’s expansion is too high.

“The recent Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act drastically expanded the eligibility for benefits beyond the geographic center of the federal government’s Nevada Test Site and the list of diseases covered by RECA. Without clear evidence linking previous government action to the expanded list of illnesses, and a price tag north of $50 billion, Senator Romney could not support the legislation,” said Romney spokesperson Arielle Mueller.

Lee told Utah News Dispatch previously that while he backs continuing support for downwinders, the bill to expand RECA goes too far.

“The particular expansion of RECA passed on March 7th, however, stretches the program to include wide geographic areas it was not intended to cover, without sufficient data, and would spend an additional $50 billion in taxpayer dollars without a pay-for to offset the cost to American taxpayers. We should not endanger the RECA program by changing it so drastically, potentially diverting resources from Utahns who deserve compensation,” Lee said.   

The post Utah’s congressional delegation wants to keep RECA going, with concerns about expanding costs appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.