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Committee approves grants for local firefighter training; funding source shifted to capital development account
Summary
The committee passed House Bill 511 to provide grants for firefighting training facilities and later amended the bill to shift the funding source to the capital development long-range building fund and to change the effective date to ensure the appropriation aligns with transfer timing.
House Bill 511 would authorize grants to support firefighting training facilities. Representative Matthews moved an amendment to change the fund source to the capital development long-range building program (the capital development fund). Matthews told the committee the capital development fund will receive future transfers that could be used for the grants and that the change aligns the project with existing capital funds.
The amendment also adjusted the effective date during executive action to ensure the statutory transfer and the bill’s effective date were consistent; committee staff recommended an effective date of June 30, 2025 to avoid timing conflicts with required transfers. Matthews explained the effective-date change was a technical fix requested for timing reasons.
Representative Denton raised concerns about redundancy and ongoing maintenance costs for local facilities and advocated for a more regional approach; Representative Mercer questioned use of the capital development fund given competing priorities. Members voted to adopt the funding-source amendment and the effective-date modification.
The committee passed HB 511 as amended. The recorded vote on the twice-amended bill passed the committee with the tally reflected in committee minutes.
