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FAMA Flyer Summer 2007

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FAMA Flyer Summer 2007

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www.fama.org Spring/Summer 2007 9

Reed (RI) and Lamar Alexander (TN) signed on as original co-sponsors of the bill. Congressman Jim Langevin (RI-2) and Congressman Eric Cantor (VA-7) introduce the House version of the bill, H.R. 1742, on March 28th. The bills have been referred to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee respectively.

The Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act creates tax incentives for property owners to retrofit buildings with automatic fire sprinkler systems. It would classify automatic fire sprinkler systems as 5-year property for purposes of deprecia-tion, rather than as 39-year property, the current figure.

At the end of the 109th Congress, the Joint Committee on Taxation calculated revenue estimates if the bill became law. Using economic data provided by the American Fire Sprinkler Association and the National Fire Sprinkler Association, the committee estimates the cost of the legislation at $348 million over five years and $884 million over ten years. These figures are significantly less than estimates the committee compiled in the 108th Congress, amounting to $878 million over five years and $2.355 billion over ten years, and will hopefully encourage Congress to take action on the measure.

Campus Fire Safety Legislation:On January 19, 2007, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-8) reintroduced the Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know Act (H.R. 592). The legislation requires colleges and universities — as well as affiliated sororities and fraternities — to prepare fire safety reports and make them available to the public. Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) introduced companion legislation in the Senate (S. 354) on January 22, 2007.

The legislation also calls on the Secretary of Education to report to Congress on the fire safety of campuses nationwide within two years of the bill’s enactment. Similar legislation was attached to the H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act, during the 109th Congress. Although the leg-islation passed the House of Representatives, the Senate failed to act on the legislation before the end of the session.

On January 24th, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11) introduced H. Res. 95. The resolution would designate the month of September as “Campus Fire Safety Month,” encouraging administrators and municipalities across the country to provide educational programs to all students during September and throughout the school year. It would also urge administrators and municipalities to “evaluate the level of fire safety being provided in both on- and off-campus student housing and take the necessary steps to ensure fire-safe living environments through fire safety education, installation of fire suppression and detection systems and the development and enforcement of applicable codes relating to fire safety.” Senator Joseph Biden (DE) introduced a similar resolution, S. Res. 105, on March 14, 2007.

Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services Job Protection Act:The Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services Job Protection Act (H.R. 1643) would protect the employment status of volunteer emergency services per-sonnel responding to a Presidentially-declared national disaster for up to 14

days per calendar year. The legislation is based on similar protections pro-vided to members of the National Guard. Congressman Rob Andrews (NJ-1) introduced the legislation in the 110th Congress on March 22, 2007. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. Senator Tom Carper (DE) is expected to introduce companion legislation shortly.

Currently, volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services per-sonnel are not protected against termination or demotion by their employ-ers should they miss work when called upon to respond to a Presidentially-declared emergency. Most volunteers forced to make that choice respond as expected and hope to resume their work without facing consequences from their employers. Passage of the job protection bill would grant protection to volunteers, eliminating the threat of termination or demotion.

This legislation would not only benefit individual volunteers, it would also reduce pressure placed on emergency managers who heavily depend on the availability and performance of volunteer fire and EMS providers. It is important that pre-emergency planners know what assets they have avail-able to them so the deployment process can move as smoothly and quickly as possible. Under the bill, employers would not be required to compensate employees for time missed due to responding, but would have to let them keep their jobs when they return. Employees would likewise be required to make a reasonable effort to notify their employers that they will miss work and continue to provide reasonable updates over the course of their absence. Furthermore, the bill only applies to emergency responders who are acting in an official capacity. “Self-responders” would not be eligible for job protec-tion under this bill and employers have the right to ask for documentation from the official supervising the response that the employee was indeed involved in an official capacity.

Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act:The Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act (H. R. 943), introduced by Congressman John Larson (CT-1), will allow state and local governments the flexibility to develop beneficial incentives for volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel without federal interference.

Volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel must balance increasing demands on their community service with the challenge to main-tain their career and family obligations in today’s two-income families. Due to these obstacles, the number of volunteer firefighters across the nation dropped from 880,000 in 1984 to 795,600 in 2005.

To counter the personnel reduction in the volunteer fire service, many localities offer small incentives to volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel to assist local departments with recruitment and reten-tion. In 2002, the Internal Revenue Service began to count such incentives as taxable income, and ruled that property tax abatements and other sources of support to volunteers should be considered as “income” and subject to federal taxation. As result, volunteer personnel in many states must now pay taxes on such incentives as local property tax rebates, local tax credits, personal vehicle gas allowances, certain uniform allowances, discounted municipal water and even annual appreciation dinners.

The legislation has 67 co-sponsors and was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. ■

|| Our Man in Washington: Legislative Update

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Safe Trucks Save Lives�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

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Together we build safe fire and rescue apparatus that save lives

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