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Committee extends repealer for volunteer firefighter awards; $3 million appropriation not yet disbursed
Summary
Senator Delano said the bill extends an existing repealer for a length-of-service award program for volunteer firefighters; the board established by the program has not disbursed funds and the sponsor provided program statistics: 6,615 eligible firefighters and 97,551 total years of service.
Senator Delano (Speaker 3) presented a repealer bill to extend the length-of-service award program for volunteer firefighters for another four to five years. He told the committee the program, originally authorized with a $3,000,000 appropriation, has had $0 disbursed to date because the board established to administer it did not meet until late in the prior year.
Delano provided program data: 6,615 qualified volunteer firemen across 2,627 departments, representing 97,551 total years of service with an average of 14.7 years per applicant; under the initial $3,000,000 allocation, that equates to about $30.76 per service year. The bill contains no new funding; any disbursements would require future appropriation by the legislature. The committee moved the bill forward on a title-sufficient motion.
