Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti just joined municipal leaders from throughout the state in a news conference aimed at defeating a bill awaiting action in the House that would allow for a so-called rebuttable presumption that professional and volunteer firefighters who develop a wide range of cancers were job-related. He said that the potential cost cannot be calculated. “It’s an unknown quantity,” he said. “It’s anyone’s guess. You just don’t know. Everything that’s passed up here has a price tag with it. In this economy, you have to ask yourself why? It’s another thing that will drive businesses out of the state. It just adds to the overall costs. Trying to define presumption? I mean, how do you do that?” He noted that firefighters are already eligible for worker’s compensation and health benefits. “Forget about the costs associated with the claim,” he said. “The costs to identify and prove your case, you’re dealing with attorneys, doctors and professionals. It just goes on and on and on. It’s mind-boggling, what goes on up here. They don’t understand the ramifications of their intentions and their actions.”