In Harrisburg yesterday, the state General Assembly passed and sent on to the governor House Bill 1673, with the hope that it will encourage more people to become volunteer firefighters.
The multi-faceted bill:
- Creates the Length of Service Award Program, which would provide tax-deferred income benefits to active volunteer firefighters.
- Expands the use of relief funds for recruitment and retention.
- Lengthens the time span for fire companies to use grant money from one year to five years.
- Gives school districts the option of offering property tax credits for volunteer firefighters.
- Allows counties to offer up to 100 percent property tax relief for active volunteer fire or EMS members.
- Increases by ten percent the maximum loan limits to volunteer fire and EMS companies through the Volunteer Loan Assistance Program, and renames that program the “emergency Responder Loan Assistance Program.
The bill is based on recommendations in the “SR6 Report”, a 2018 Senate resolution to boost the recruitment and retention of volunteer first responders.
Representative Jim Struzzi, a co-sponsor of the bill, says firefighters “deserve to be rewarded for their hard work and the sacrifices they make daily to help us when we need it most.”
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