WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Susan Collins (R-Caribou), along with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), has introduced two bipartisan bills that would strengthen financial support services for volunteer firefighters and first responders across Maine and increase local services’ ability to recruit and retain volunteers.
The first bill, the Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act (VESRRA), would make it easier for local governments to establish and administer Length of Service Award Programs (LOSAPs), which are retirement accounts for volunteer emergency responders.
According to officials from Sen. Collins’ office, approximately 800,000 — or 20 percent — of volunteer firefighters nationwide use these programs, which are powerful recruitment and retention tools for local services. Under current law, LOSAPs are not clearly defined in the tax code and resultantly, many local governments are dissuaded from establishing them out of fear of violating tax rules. VESRRA would resolve this problem by simplifying the tax treatment of LOSAPs.
The second bill, the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act (VRIPA) of 2013, would exclude state and local property tax benefits for voluntary emergency personnel from being taxed as federal income, as well as $600 of any other benefit provided to volunteer firefighters like housing assistance or tuition assistance.
“Our volunteer firefighters and first responders are true heroes,” Sen. Collins said. “They make enormous personal sacrifices on behalf of their communities by providing services that are absolutely essential but too often taken for granted,” she added. “It is imperative that we have these programs in place so that our emergency service personnel have the financial support that they need to support themselves and their families, and so that our local governments have the resources they need to recruit and retain emergency service personnel.
“There is no greater challenge facing the volunteer emergency services today than recruitment and retention,” said Richard Cyr, president of the Maine State Federation of Firefighters wrote in a letter of support to Sen. Collins. “Across the state of Maine, many fire departments are struggling to replace older firefighters as they retire,” he said. “Passage of VESRRA and VRIPA will make it easier for local communities to offer small incentives to boost recruitment and retention efforts by simplifying how these benefits are taxed by the federal government.”
