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State Rep. Kyle Pierce meets Edgewood council, fields questions on SB1 and firefighter stipend bill
Summary
State Rep. Kyle Pierce attended the council to offer assistance on state‑level issues; he addressed concerns about SB1’s fiscal impacts and said he would follow up on a firefighter allowance bill (HB 1048) that raised volunteer stipends but did not include state reimbursement for small departments.
The council invited State Representative Kyle Pierce to the meeting; Pierce said he wants to be a resource and encouraged town officials to contact him when they encounter state‑level roadblocks.
"Half of my job is the policy stuff that gets the most notoriety. The other half I play the old‑school phone operator — if you have a question or a concern, let me know and I can kind of run it down for you," Pierce told the council.
Residents pressed Pierce about SB1 and potential 2028 fiscal impacts. Pierce said recent 2026 adjustments aimed to give local governments greater predictability and that earlier 2028 estimates had stabilized. He offered to meet with the town and with the chairs of relevant state committees, and to follow up with department staff regarding specific technical questions and fiscal modeling.
During the discussion Dale Vander from the fire department raised House Bill 1048, which increased the gas and clothing allowance for volunteer firefighters from $150 to $250; Vander asked why the state increased the allowance without providing money to local departments to pay it. Vander asked, "So how come you didn't give us any money to pay for that?"
Pierce acknowledged the concern and said he would follow up with colleagues and relevant agency staff to explore options (including making the increase optional or pursuing compensating funding). He also noted that he helped secure a one‑time exemption last session that allowed the South Madison fire territory to exceed a 0.4 tax‑rate cap in a specific case.
Next steps: Pierce offered to meet with town staff to review specific issues (lead‑line funding thresholds, the pool funding question raised by council members, and firefighter stipend implementation) and to bring those questions to the appropriate state agencies or committee chairs.
