PRINTER'S NO. 2594
No. 2028 Session of 1987
INTRODUCED BY DALEY, KASUNIC, JAROLIN, STEIGHNER, CORRIGAN,
MAINE AND McHALE, DECEMBER 1, 1987
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, DECEMBER 1, 1987
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 11, 1968 (P.L.149, No.84), entitled "An
2 act relating to volunteer firemen's relief associations,
3 clarifying their purposes and objectives, establishing
4 criteria and standards for the conduct of their affairs,
5 providing for their formation, recognition, continuing
6 operation, and for their dissolution in appropriate
7 circumstances and the distribution of their funds," further
8 providing for the expenditure of volunteer firemen's relief
9 association funds.
10 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
11 hereby enacts as follows:
12 Section 1. Section 6(e) of the act of June 11, 1968
13 (P.L.149, No.84), known as the Volunteer Firemen's Relief
14 Association Act, amended March 23, 1972 (P.L.119, No.44) and
15 March 7, 1982 (P.L.168, No.53), is amended to read:
16 Section 6. * * *
17 (e) The funds of any volunteer firemen's relief association
18 may be spent:
19 (1) To pay for such normal and reasonable running expenses
20 as may be appropriate to the businesslike conduct of its affairs
21 including legal fees and including but not by way of limitation
1 the rental or purchase of offices, the payment of reasonable
2 compensation of any needed employes, and the purchase of office
3 equipment and supplies.
4 (2) To purchase contracts of insurance which shall at the
5 least afford financial assistance to active members of the fire
6 service represented by the association against losses due to
7 injury suffered in the fire service and which may also provide
8 in the order named, (i) for payments to the widow or other
9 dependents of a member in the event of his death, (ii) for
10 protection of active firemen against disease, (iii) for the
11 replacement or purchase of prosthetic devices such as visual
12 aids, hearing aids, dentures, braces, crutches, and the like,
13 where such devices have been lost or damaged while the owner was
14 engaged in the fire service or where the need for such devices
15 arises because of functional impairment attributable to
16 participation in the fire service, (iv) for the repair or
17 replacement if necessary of articles of clothing damaged in the
18 course of participation in the fire service, and (v) for
19 disability incurred after service for a minimum of twenty years
20 as a volunteer fireman.
21 (3) To maintain a beneficiary or death benefit fund and to
22 pay a sum certain from that fund to the beneficiary of any
23 participant in that fund upon his death. In the event a
24 beneficiary is not designated or a designated one has
25 predeceased the participant, the sum certain shall be paid to
26 the estate of the participant.
27 (4) To pay in full or in part for damage or loss in any of
28 the categories mentioned in clause (2) above in any specific
29 case in which (i) no policy of insurance is in force which
30 covers the risk, or (ii) the amount payable under insurance
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1 policies in force is inadequate to cover the loss.
2 (5) To pay the costs of procuring and forwarding tokens of
3 sympathy and goodwill. To a volunteer fireman who may be ill or
4 hospitalized as a result of participation in the fire service or
5 who may die or who may be seriously ill for any reason.
6 (6) To make cash payments to families in distressed
7 circumstances by reason of age, infirmities or other
8 disabilities suffered by one of the family in the course of his
9 participation in the fire service as a volunteer fireman.
10 (7) To acquire and maintain membership in any Statewide
11 association or corporation which extends advice and assistance
12 to firemen's relief associations in the conduct of their affairs
13 and to pay reasonable expenses of travel and maintenance to a
14 duly elected delegate for attendance at such meetings of such
15 Statewide association or corporation.
16 (8) To contribute or to purchase contracts of insurance
17 which will contribute towards the costs of rehabilitating and
18 retraining volunteer firemen who by reason of their
19 participation in the fire service have suffered a major
20 impairment of their ability to continue their vocation.
21 (9) To pay for medical and surgical bills arising from
22 injuries sustained by volunteer firemen while engaged in
23 activities of the fire company to the extent that said bills are
24 not covered by insurance provided by the relief association.
25 (10) To pay reasonable expenses actually and necessarily
26 incurred for attending bona fide firemen's training schools.
27 (11) To purchase safeguards for preserving life, health, and
28 safety of volunteer firemen, so as to ensure their availability
29 to participate in the volunteer fire service.
30 (12) To secure insurance against the legal liability of the
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1 volunteer firemen for loss and expense from claims arising out
2 of the performance of their official, authorized duties while
3 going to, returning from or attending fires or while performing
4 their duties as special fire police.
5 (13) To fund a limited pension program for retired members
6 of volunteer fire companies who served as active volunteer
7 firefighters for a period of fifteen years with a payment base
8 not to exceed ten dollars ($10) per month for each month of
9 active service.
10 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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