Lawmaker says legislation would aid fire companies
A yearlong statewide study released Tuesday in Harrisburg eventually will lead to legislation aimed at recruiting and retaining volunteer fire and ambulance personnel, and providing money for emergency service training and equipment, state Sen. Richard A. Kasunic said. “It’s going to impact emergency response groups throughout the state,” said Kasunic, D-Dunbar, who served on the 25-member SR 60 Commission, which studied the issues affecting emergency services statewide.
Burdensome fund-raisers and a decline in the number of young men and women in local communities, Kasunic said, have reduced the numbers of volunteer emergency service personnel to half of what they were 20 years ago.
Future legislation will attempt to help replenish the ranks of volunteer fire and ambulance services by offering tax credits, financial assistance for college education and more grant and loan programs for vehicle and equipment purchases, he said.
Bills loosening restrictions on how fire departments can spend money they receive now also will be introduced, Kasunic said.
To qualify for any funding, emergency personnel would have to remain current in their required training.
Kasunic said revenue the state eventually will receive from slot machines will provide approximately $10,000 annual grants to volunteer units.
Also, he said he will propose legislation that would allow fire departments to buy equipment through a state bulk-purchasing program.
Kasunic would not say when any of the bills might be introduced, but he did say they would be parts of a comprehensive package of bills that would benefit both volunteer and paid emergency service departments.
He did say emergency service providers, especially volunteer departments, urgently need the legislation.
“They are struggling. Many of them are on the brink of closing their doors,” Kasunic said.
Citing a previous report, he said the services that the nearly 2,460 volunteer fire departments in the state provide is valued at $6 billion per year.
Volunteer fire departments are often the first to arrive at emergencies as they were in Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001, and at the Quecreek Mine accident, but they also respond to less severe emergencies like flooded basements, Kasunic said, stressing the need for financial assistance.
“No matter how small or grave the task, they are there,” he said.