BATON ROUGE — Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee moved forward House Bill 80, a measure by Representative DeWitt that would designate utility workers — commonly referred to as linemen — as first responders so they can be integrated into emergency incident-command systems and gain priority access during declared disasters.

Representative DeWitt told the committee the change is intended to ensure crews can restore power quickly to hospitals, dialysis centers and residences that rely on oxygen machines. “Basically what this does is get these guys in the incident command system,” DeWitt said, adding that several other states have enacted similar statutes after hurricanes and other disasters.

Supporters appeared on the record without opposition. A witness who identified herself as Ms. Haney thanked the utility companies and said many linemen are local and perform dangerous work during storms. Representative Wiley said the bill recognizes the danger utility workers face and will prevent them from becoming delayed in traffic.

After brief discussion and public testimony indicating industry support, the committee asked if there were objections to moving the bill forward; the chair said there was “no objection,” and the bill was advanced to the next stage.

The transcript records no amendments to HB80 and no roll-call vote in committee; the chair announced the bill was moved forward by unanimous consent.