Shawn Brock, a firefighter at Stewart Air National Guard Base, and his 25 colleagues had waited a long time for Thursday.

“It’s a special occasion for all of us,” Brock said. “It’s been a fight to get this benefit for 20 years.”

Until now, the state of New York treated firefighters affiliated with the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs (DMNA) differently than other full-time firefighters if cancer or lung disease resulted in disability.

Career firefighters from most other departments would receive disability pensions of 50% of 75% of their final average salaries. DMNA firefighters at three posts, including the Stewart base, would receive one-third of their final average salaries.

But thanks to a change signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul, all firefighters are now eligible for the maximum disability benefit, regardless of which department employs them.

District 39 State Sen. James Skoufis, who sponsored the legislation, pointed out that similar bills have passed in previous legislative sessions, but were vetoed four times, including three times by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Skoufis said that after those vetoes, he was told by administrators the state could not afford the pension boost.

“The fiscal impact is basically negligible,” Skoufis said of the past denials. “We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars in a state budget that is nearing $200 billion (per year). So that never held water for me.”

Brock said the victory gives his family peace of mind. He was also thinking of a past colleague Thursday during a celebration of the pension changes outside Skoufis’s Newburgh office.

“We have one gentleman who passed away from cancer … but he didn’t receive that benefit,” Brock said. “Now, rest in peace. If he were here, he would have received this benefit.”

The law change takes effect immediately.