Important Legislation!

It is imperative that all Pennsylvania volunteer firefighters, fire police officers, and emergency medical technicians call their state representative to encourage them to support and quickly pass four pieces of legislation that are in the process of being sent to the PA House of Representatives.

The bills are part of a four-bill package put forth by a bipartisan group of senators and were passed unanimously this past week. These bills will help volunteer fire companies and EMS companies, which save municipalities about $6 billion a year, recruit and retain volunteers. (Good for us, good for the companies we work for, and good for our communities!)

They are:

• Senate Bill 1314 would phase in a $500 tax credit for volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services workers over a five-year period. (That is $500 less state income tax that you will pay every year)
  
• Senate Bill 1316 would create a $1,000 tax credit for every volunteer firefighter and EMS worker a business employs full-time. The credit can be used against the Corporate Net Income Tax, the Personal Income Tax or the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax, and is capped at $5,000 per employer. (This will benefit companies who hire us)
• Senate Bill 1315 would create an undergraduate tuition reimbursement program for active volunteers with a 50 percent reimbursement for each course credit. (That means that we can go to college for half price)
• Senate Bill 1169, would allow municipalities to give emergency responder volunteers a credit of up to $400 against their earned income tax liability. (That means up to a $400 reduction in your township/borough income tax that you will pay every year)

For those of you who consider this yet another giveaway to a special interest group, think of it this very simple way. The tax incentives will cost the state's taxpayers approximately $8.5 million a year. By recruiting and retaining volunteer first responders, it will save the state and municipalities an estimated $6 billion a year that it would cost to put in place a 100% paid fire and EMS service. Do the math. You have thousands of volunteer fire and EMS personnel statewide who provide professional service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, each and every year and ask for no compensation in return. We don't get money or a discount to buy fuel for our personal vehicles to get to the station. We can't replace the hours we are away from our families and friends, during training, drills, and calls. We put our lives at risk so that you and your loved ones are safe. To get that, you and every other person who lives in Pennsylvania will contribute $1.45 every year, a very small price for protection.

The additional tax credit for employers of volunteers will give them the incentive as well to retain their employees (and their jobs!).

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT I CALL?

Simple - it is almost the end of the current legislative session. If these bills don't get through the House to the Governor's Desk by the end of the session, the whole process has to start all over again when the legislature reconvenes in the Fall. We need to get our legislators to hear our voices, loud and clear. For one, State Senator Mike O'Pake has been a champion for our causes and has been introducing similar legislation for the past five years, only to have the session run out of time for consideration.

In Senate floor remarks, O'Pake said the legislation was "a long overdue, common sense incentive to encourage the retention of the active volunteer firefighters and active volunteer EMS personnel we already have, while also helping to attract the next generation of recruits our communities so desperately need."

"Our volunteers deserve our thanks, and they deserve a tax break," O'Pake said, noting that those who serve as volunteer first responders "perform a critical public service" that our communities "can neither do without nor could they afford if it were not for our volunteers."

This is a first, that the State Senate has actually gotten it through all the committees and passed unanimously on the floor. Now we need to tell our House Representatives to get their collective act together and get these bills PASSED! Only YOU can do this! We need every single volunteer firefighter, fire police officer, and emergency medical technician to call and e-mail their House Representative and tell them that THE TIME IS NOW to pass these four important pieces of legislation. Tell your family, friends, everyone you know who lives in Pennsylvania to do the same.

SO WHAT DO I DO NOW?

To find who your state representative is, go NOW to http://www.legis.state.pa.us/. In the upper right corner of the page (Find Members By), type in your home zip code and you will find out who they are and how to get a hold of them. Don't wait until lunchtime or the weekend or whenever - DO IT NOW!

Please share this message with everyone you know - we need to get our voices heard today!

• Pennsylvania Fire & Emergency Services Institute (sign up for their excellent email alerts)
  
• Pennsylvania Emergency Services Legislative Alliance

PFESI also offers a way for anyone who is interested in answering the call to become a volunteer firefighter, fire police officer, or emergency medical technician. Simply call 1-800-FIRE LINE (1-800-347-3546) and leave your name, address and phone number. They, in turn, will refer you to a local company who can use your help. Their web page about this service inspired this graphic...