Prepared by: Tom Rinaldi, Chair Law and Legislation Committee NYS Assoc of Fire Districts LEGISLATIVE INTITIATIVES FOR THE 2014 SESSION

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1 Note that the bills introduced last year carry over this year and are still in play for There are currently 23,912 Bills under consideration. Green Text=Recent Change from last Edition Highlight = Passed Chamber being considered June Session Days: 2, 3 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 NOTE LAST DAY OF LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS JUNE 19TH Prepared by: Tom Rinaldi, Chair Law and Legislation Committee NYS Assoc of Fire Districts LEGISLATIVE INTITIATIVES FOR THE 2014 SESSION Points of Information: Most Recent 2014 Actions Senate Assembly Status Senate/Assembly Description Notes S7618 LaValle A9705 Thiele Read twice and printed referred to the Assembly Local Government Committee/Read once and referred to the Senate Committee on Local Government An act to amend the GML Section 218 to increase the maximum contribution under a defined benefit LOSAP plan to $2,100 from the current $700. Talking Points: This bill is significant in order to make the defined contribution LOSAP program a more legitimate option to the defined benefit program for Fire Districts. The public sector and now even the NYS retirement system is moving away from DB plans towards DC plans. Having a LOSAP DC contribution that can compete with the level of benefit provided by the DB plan would be a huge S4780 Grisanti A6557 Sweeney In the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee/Passed Assembly 2/10/14 delivered to Senate positive. Prohibits use of chemical flame retardants on residential upholstered furniture Talking Point: Add Art 37 Title , En Con L/flame retardants were added to upholstered furniture in the mid 70s to prevent house fires but a number of studies have linked them to cancer, neurological impairments and fertility problems. Annually 600 people die due to fires in upholstered furniture. If manufacturers do not use chemical retardants there are alternatives which will require them to pass a smolder test that the manufacturers can meet without adding retardants. 1 May 30, 2014

2 S5041a Ball A5847a Sweeney Senate Committee on Housing Construction and Community Development/Passed Assembly 1/28/14 delivered to Senate S1885B Bonacic A2318B Gunther Senate Local Government Committee/Died in Assembly, returned to Senate 1/8/14, currently in Governmental Operations Committee S3262 Little A4113 Brindisi Senate Local Government Committee/Assembly Local Governments Committee 2014 Increase the penalties where illegal modifications to multi-family dwellings by landlord are found. Talking Point: Amd 382 EXC L/The illegal modification to multi family dwellings was the base cause of the deaths to the FDNY firefighters on Black Sunday and is a problem in many communities where there is a proliferation of multi family dwellings. The idea of the legislation would be to increase the penalties on landlords that allow illegal modifications within their buildings. Illegal modifications present dangers for firefighters as well as occupants due to overcrowding. Prohibits registered sex offenders from becoming volunteer firefighters or EMS workers Talking Point; Amd 176-b TWN, VILm 1402 N-PC L/While passed by the Senate, this bill was stalled by the Assembly in Since the job deals with the public and children it would be very difficult for a registered offender to perform their duties at any given moment. Labor Law currently does give certain consideration and prohibits sex offenders from working in positions similar to firefighters and EMS positions, but they are not specifically included. The Assembly did not want to include Level 1 offenders in the prohibition which is defined as a low risk of repeat offense and is on a registry for 20 years. Perhaps the alternative is to punish or prohibit those who withhold information on past offenses and perhaps include all felonies. Authorities having control of a fire department or fire company which provides EMS services may establish fees and charges for services. Talking Point: Amends 209-b GML and 184 TWN Law/ currently Fire Districts, Towns or Villages having control of a Fire Company who provides EMS services are not allowed to bill for EMS services if they run an associated ambulance service. The thought is that the taxpayers already pay taxes for the operation of the fire district which would presume to include EMS services. This is outgrowth of an archaic statute prohibiting billing for volunteer fire services but was never intended to apply to EMS response. Revenues generated by volunteer ambulance billing would augment the local government entity served by the fire company and used to offset the expense of a sustained response. 2 May 30, 2014

3 This billing expansion has been opposed by the Paid Ambulance Service Lobby who have an interest in expanding their services where volunteers can no longer be sustained. S3733 Flanagan A5400 Thiele Senate Transportation Committee/Assembly Transportation Committee 2014 Passed and Signed S6359d Part KK Passed and Signed A8559d Part KK 2014 Passed and Signed as part of the Budget Legislation Requires the use of seatbelts by volunteer firefighters; provides exception for vehicles which do not have restraint systems provided by the manufacturer or to volunteer firefighters not seated within the confines of the vehicle or emergency medical personnel providing patient care in the rear compartment of an ambulance Talking Point: Amd 1229-c of the V&T Law/while NYS law currently provides for an exemption to the seatbelt law for those riding in fire apparatus, national standards require seatbelt use. A number of firefighters nationally have been killed or injured due to a lack of seatbelts. To clear the air, the V&T law should be amended to require seatbelts in active response fire vehicles. In 2013 this bill never made it out of the Transportation Committee. Exempts proceeds from service award programs for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers from personal income taxes. Include in Budget Bill Include in Budget Bill 2014 VFBL/AWBL benefits increase for permanent and temporary total disability from the current $400 weekly to $650 weekly Talking Point: Cuomo vetoed this bill in 2013 stating that this bill would give those volunteer an opportunity to obtain such benefits earlier than when paid firefighters and ambulance workers can obtain similar benefits, which is unfair. Since the service award programs are similar to retirement programs with defined age and time requirements, there is no unfair advantage. The LOSAP is a pension or annuity that volunteers with defined service time can draw at a defined age, similar to a pension plan but according to current tax code they are deemed to be wages and thus taxable income. S3589b Griffo A485B Magnarelli Passed Assembly delivered to Provides total disability benefits for volunteer firefighters and Senate referred to Local volunteer ambulance workers for injuries sustained on or after Government 2/11/14 July 1, 2014 in amount of $ weekly Add 9-a, Vol Ffs Ben L; add 9-a, Vol Amb Wkr Ben L S2229 Martins A1874 Schimel Senate Advanced to third reading/assembly Local Governments Committee 2014 Amends the NY government reorganization and citizen empowerment act, relating to the requirements for consolidation or dissolution of certain local government entities. Talking Point: Rpld 758, 759, 780 & 781, amd Gen Muni L, generally; amd 33-a, Munic Home R L the proposed chapter amendments to this law deal with the consolidation process. The process is flawed in that the public first votes to dissolve the 3 May 30, 2014

4 S901A Martins A645A Schimel Senate Amended and recommit to Housing, Constriction and Community Development/ Assembly Amended and Committed to Governmental Operations S999 Little A1709 Gunther Senate Local Government Committee/Assembly Committee on Real Property Taxation 2014 S1604 Grisanti A4099 Thiele Vetoed by The Governor 12/8/13 Needs to be reintroduced with amendments no action as of 2/20/14 S7111 Grisanti None Referred to the Committee on Labor 4/14/AssemblyNo governmental entity in question; after which comes the plan to provide the dissolved service. The amendments seek to provide a plan to provide the dissolved or consolidated services and then allow for the vote to occur. See exact proposed amendments below. Relates to the criminal enforcement of violations of the State s Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. Amd 382, Exec L Authorizes fire districts to impose ad valorem levies and special assessments on otherwise tax exempt real property. Talking Point: Amd 490, RPT L/Currently fire districts can t levy taxes on exempt properties even though they have to provide vital fire protection services to all residents and business in the community. With rising property taxes and caps on levies, the burden of the service should be borne by all property owners. Insure job protection during a declared emergency for responders that leave to assist. This has gone nowhere this session. Talking Point: Add 202-l, Lab L/This measure was vetoed by Cuomo in 2013 on the basis that it provided no standard by which an employer could reject an employee s request thus suffer staffing shortages at critical times and impose an unfunded mandate on all. In Delaware similar legislation was passed whereby leave is granted when acting as a volunteer emergency responder with respect to a Governor-declared State of Emergency for up to seven consecutive days, acting as a volunteer emergency responder with respect to a Presidentdeclared National Emergency for up to fourteen consecutive days or receiving treatment for injuries sustained performing volunteer emergency services and protects private employers imposing a duty on the volunteer to notify the employer in accordance with existing policies and furnish within 7 days of the employers request a written statement from the OIC including details of the work performed. Provides authorized leave for volunteer fire department members or volunteer ambulance squad members for 4 May 30, 2014

5 Sponsor S4936b Nozzolio A1552a Kolb Amended and Referred to Local Government Committee/Referred to Assembly Local Governments Committee 2014 S7084 Griffo A8991 Magnarelli Referred to Senate Local Govt Committee/Advanced to third reading as of 5/15 S2355 Lavalle A2605 Kavanagh Senate Local Government Committee/Assembly Local Governments Committee 2014 S4826 Maziarz A6944 Ceretto Senate Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks & Recreation Committee/Assm. Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development Committee 5/6/14 states of emergency; deems leave is excused when a state of emergency is declared by the federal or state government and such person is engaged in the actual performance of his or her duties as an emergency responder; provides such period of leave shall not be charged against any other leave to which the employee is entitled; allows the employer to request a statement from the department or service stating the period of time the employee responded to the state of emergency Expanded VFBL Cancer Coverage to specific types of cancer Talking Point: Add 11-d, Vol Ffs Ben L /provides that any melanoma or condition of cancer affecting lymphatic, digestive, hematological, urinary, prostate, neurological, breast and reproductive systems resulting in total or partial disability or death to a volunteer firefighter who successfully passed a physical exam on entering the fire service be covered by VFBL insurance for such cancers. Section 1 of the legislation amends the GML to address VFBL coverage for volunteers who provide emergency services before an officer in command arrives on the scene. Talking Point: Amd 209-i, Gen Muni L/a current gap in VFBL coverage exists when there is not a command officer at the scene of an incident in the jurisdiction where the incident is occurring. This is also counter to National Incident Management System ICS protocols adopted at both a National and State level A quirk in the current GM law makes it possible to deny coverage for an injured volunteer if a command officer is not on the scene. Requires absentee ballots for fire district elections Amd 175-b, Town L Provides free use of state parks and campsites for volunteer firefighters and members of a volunteer ambulance service. Amd 13.19, Pks & Rec L 5 May 30, 2014

6 S4933 Nozzolio A6663 Oaks Referred to Local Governments/Local Government Comm 1/8/14 S1924A Addabbo A8590 Hevesi Amend and commit to Energy and Telecommunications/Assembl y Energy Committee S6515 Little A8617 Steck Referred to Senate Health Committee/Referred to Assembly Health Committee 1/31/14 S6675a Martins A1869b Schimel Referred to Senate Housing, Construction and Community Development/Amended and Referred to Assembly Governmental Operations Comm. 5/21/14 Relates to youth programs sponsored by fire departments, provides that participants may respond to an emergency or hazardous activity but shall remain in a designated or marked off areas that has been set up by the OIC and provides such participant cannot respond to an emergency on a vehicle using lights and sirens furthermore such participants may not enter a burning structure. Amd 204-b, Gen Muni L Provides for a priority call system for use in connection with emergency disconnections of utilities, service coverage and oversight of response time by utilities in connection with the emergency disconnection of utilities. Talking Points: Add 48-a, amd 65, 66 & 80, Pub Serv L/to have a process dealing with disconnecting a power source during an emergency - such as a fire - is extremely important. Currently, the utility company is responsible for the disconnection and firefighters are unable to do their job until the utility cuts the power to a building. Low staffing ratios and inadequate process and procedures have lead to delays in such instances. This legislation will put in place processes and procedures to comply with emergency shut offs and create a mechanism for review to improve response time. An act to amend the public health law, in relation to the provision of municipal advanced life support first responder service or municipal ambulance service Requires notice to be given to the fire department with jurisdiction over a residential building where construction will utilize truss type, pre-engineered wood, or timber construction. Talking Point: When responding to a fire emergency, firefighters are unable to differentiate between a building constructed of truss foundation or another type of construction. As a result, in recent years truss constructions have been the cause of many preventable deaths of firefighters. It is imperative that firefighters are notified of the use of truss type construction so they can take appropriate measures that will protect the lives of residents and ensure their own safety. With the enactment of this bill, emergency responders will be able to take proper 6 May 30, 2014

7 precautions in responding to a fire in a residential structure where truss type construction was utilized. My personal issue is that when this wears off, where will the notifications be, will they be heeded and with the fact that trusses have been in existence for 40 years who is going to perform the assessment on all preexisting buildings, if it doesn t apply, I question the effort and the benefit due to the record keeping requirement, nice thought, the process will doom the effort. S7486 Lavalle A9674 Thiele Referred to Senate Local Government Committee/Referred to Assembly Local Governments Committee 5/15/14 Amends subdivisions 11-a and 11-b of the town law to clarify that employees of fire districts who are firefighters in the district's fire department may service as chief and assistant chiefs in those departments. SINGLE CHAMBER BILLS UNLIKELY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH SESSION END ON JUNE 19 TH. None A8377 Thiele None/Referred to Assembly Transportation Committee 1/9/2014 S996 Little None Died in Assembly returned to Senate referred to Local Government Committee 2 nd Report on the Calendar 5/21/2014 None A3234 Rabbitt None/Referred to Local Governments in 1/24/13 None A6977 Ceretto None/Held for consideration in Assembly Local Governments Committee 3/19/2014 None A8807 Abinanti None/Referred to Assembly Local Governments Committee 2/14/14 Exempts volunteer fire department or company vehicles from the payment of tolls on highways, bridges, tunnels or other toll roads within the state when performing emergency services. Authorizes the town board of any town, which does not have a fire district to establish and operate a town fire department. Add Art 10-A , Town L Allows the town or village board to make changes to the proposed annual fire district budget, requires a public vote before appropriations made to fire district capital reserve funds. Amd 181, Town L Talking Points; a fire district is an established legal governmental entity as defined by Town Law, this action would have one governmental entity usurp the power and authority of another thus creating a conflict of authority. Permits village volunteer fire companies in certain counties(based on specific population) to enter into contracts to provide certain emergency services to a town in which a village is located without the consent of the village board or fire commissioners Amd , Vil L Requires the election of fire district commissioners to take place on the same date and at the same location as elections of school board members 7 May 30, 2014

8 None A7625 Jordan None/Referred to Corrections Committee 5/2013 Note Bill Sponsor no longer in Assembly, seat vacant. Talking Points: Amd 175, Town L/School board elections take place in May which would not align with the fire district s fiscal year who s budget cycle begins in July/August timeframe. School district boundaries and fire district boundaries may not overlap, voter eligibility would be a problem. Permits a search of the statewide sex offender registry upon the application by any individual for membership or employment in a police department, fire company or with a provider of ambulance services, permits a fire company, police department or provider of ambulance services to deny employment application in certain circumstances Add 176, amd 150, Town L; amd & 8-800, Vil L; amd 3011, Pub Health L; amd 752, Cor L None A3235 Rabbitt Changes the date of fire district elections from the 2 nd Tuesday in December to the 1 st Tuesday in November, extends the hours of voting to 12 hours and increases the pay for pole workers. None A7365a Galef None/Assembly, amended on the third reading Sets forth provisions for absentee ballots for fire district and improvement district elections. None A4634 Curran None/Ways and Means Committee 1/8/14 Instituted as a budget Provision None A8741 Abinanti None/Referred to Local Governments Committee Excludes from federal adjusted gross income the amount of any service award paid to a volunteer firefighter or volunteer ambulance worker, thereby exempting such payments from state income tax in like manner as a pension Requires fire districts to use absentee ballots S1947 Ritchie None Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee 1/8/14/None Other Possible Legislative Initiatives Support the passage of the latest Edition of the International Code by the State without legislative interference. Change regulations to eliminate charging commercial electric rates to volunteer ambulance and fire companies. Add 116-a, amd 66, Pub Serv L Provide incentives or tax credits to install backup emergency generators at the homes of active first responders. 8 May 30, 2014

9 Halt the erosion of local government emergency services tax base due to property tax exemptions for government lands and facilities, Not for Profits, Educational, Religious, agricultural, senior housing, and IDA property. Increase VFBL benefits in steps over a 5 year period and include an automatic escalator clause to provide reasonable payments. Amend the tax code to increase the volunteer firefighter tax credit from $200 to $1000 over a 5 year period. Amend the LOSAP bill to increase the Defined Contribution from the current $700 to $2100 over a three year period. NOTE: While the Legislature is in session, the Governor has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to sign or veto bills passed by both houses. Signed bills become law; vetoed bills do not. However, the Governor's failure to sign or veto a bill within the 10-day period means that it becomes law automatically. Vetoed bills are returned to the house that first passed them, together with a statement of the reason for their disapproval. A vetoed bill can become law if two-thirds of the members of each house vote to override the Governor's veto. **If a bill is sent to the Governor when the Legislature is out of session, the rules are a bit different. At such times, the Governor has 30 days in which to make a decision, and failure to act ("pocket veto") has the same effect as a veto. It is practice that the Governor will call for bills that have passed both chambers to be signed. Note that the bills introduced last year carry over this year and are still in play for Clarification of Chapter Amendments to the NY Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act 1. Require the information necessary for voters to understand the implications of consolidation to be included in the consolidation plan. 2. Require that when the governing bodies of local government entities initiate the consolidation of such entities, that this consolidation must be approved by the residents of such entities through referendum. 3. Provide for the number of signatures needed to initiate consolidation proceedings, and specify time periods for collecting signatures to initiate such consolidation proceedings. 4. Increase the time period to prepare elector initiated consolidation plan up to two years. 5. Require that: a. Proposed consolidations of local government entities must be approved by the residents of those local government entities after the elector initiated consolidation plan has been developed and approved; b. Referenda on consolidation plans must be held at the local government entity's normally scheduled election; and c. A four year resubmission process on electorate initiated consolidations must be instituted if the proposed consolidation is not approved by the voters. 6. Require the governing bodies of local government entities to initiate dissolution proceedings by adopting a resolution which would commit to developing a dissolution plan and putting it up for a vote of such entity's residents, and to require a study commission to be formed for the development of dissolution plans. 7. Provide conforming changes regarding local governing body dissolution proceedings initiated by resolution adoption. 9 May 30, 2014

10 8. Prohibit the filing an electorate petition initiating dissolution if the local governing body has already adopted a resolution pursuant to General Municipal Law initiating the dissolution. 9. Require a study commission to be formed to develop the dissolution plan. This bill would additionally amend the Municipal Home Rule Law to require that all proposed dissolutions of local government entities initiated by a county must be put to a vote of the residents of each local government entity. NEXT PAGE FEDERAL LEGISLATION RELATED TO THE FIRE SERVICE 10 May 30, 2014

11 Federal Legislation On the National level the following is a list of legislative priorities of the National Volunteer Fire Council (see and are of interest volunteers nationwide. AFG/SAFER Grant Appropriations In June the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass FY 2014 appropriations legislation funding AFG and SAFER at $340 million each, an increase of $2.5 million each from FY The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved FY 2014 DHS appropriations legislation providing $337.5 million each for AFG and SAFER. The House bill funds program management and administration directly from the AFG/SAFER appropriations while the Senate bill taps the FEMA S&E account as per the President s budget request. Fire Police Fairness Act (SB876/HB1828) No movement as of this date. Fire Police Fairness Act - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include a fire police officer as a public safety officer for purposes of death benefits provisions. Defines a "fire police officer" as an individual who: (1) is serving in accordance with state or local law as a member of a legally organized public safety agency; (2) is not a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, a chaplain, or a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew; and (3) provides scene security or directs traffic in response to any fire, rescue, or police emergency or at a planned special event. Makes conforming amendments to the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act) (Note if your fire department requires fire police to be firefighters or to join as firefighters this does not apply to them and they are presently covered) Status 25% progress Read Twice and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee Referred to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations Committee Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act (SB506/HB1009). No movement as of this date. VESRRA would allow sponsors of LOSAPs to elect to have their plan be considered eligible deferred compensation, making plan contributions guaranteed and portable (able to be rolled over), would raise the annual contribution limit to $5,500, specifies that LOSAPs funded by private, non-profit emergency services agencies be treated as governmental for the purposes of taxation Status 25% progress Read twice and referred to the Senate Finance Committee House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Committee Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act (SB501/HB3747) No movement as of this date. VRIPRA exempts property tax benefits and up to $600 per year of other types of incentives that volunteer emergency responders receive as a reward for their service. A similar exemption was enacted in 2007 but lapsed in Status 25% progress Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance Referred to the House Ways and Means Committee Supporting Emergency Responders Volunteer Efforts Act HB2476/SB-NONE No movement as of this date. Introduced by NY Southern Tier Congressman Richard Hanna, the bill would provide a $1,000 annual tax credit for active members of volunteer emergency services organizations. The tax credit is intended to serve as a recruitment and retention incentive. Status 25% progress in the House House Ways and Means Committee 11 May 30, 2014

12 Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act SB1163/HB-NONE. No movement as of this date. Provides tax incentives for the installation and retrofitting of automatic fire sprinklers in commercial structures. The bill would reduce the tax depreciation schedule for retrofitting high-rise properties with automatic fire sprinkler systems. It also makes automatic fire sprinkler systems eligible as a type of equipment that small- and medium-sized businesses can claim a tax deduction for having installed. Status 25% progress in the House Read Twice and referred to the Senate Finance Committee 12 May 30, 2014