House backs addition of highway workers for indemnification pay

State highway employees who are injured or killed while doing their job on the road are closer to receiving payment from the state after a Georgia House vote this week.

House Bill 156, which passed 165-0, would add highway workers to the list of jobs such as police officers and emergency personnel who qualify for indemnification pay.

The bill is not retroactive, so it does not cover Spencer Pass, the highway emergency response operator who was killed on I-85 while helping a motorist in January.