PRINTER'S NO. 1251
No. 944 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY CONTI, TOMLINSON, ERICKSON, RAFFERTY, WONDERLING,
C. WILLIAMS, LOGAN, TARTAGLIONE, ORIE, KITCHEN, COSTA,
BOSCOLA AND GREENLEAF, NOVEMBER 3, 2003
REFERRED TO FINANCE, NOVEMBER 3, 2003
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 11, 1968 (P.L.149, No.84), entitled, as
2 amended, "An act relating to volunteer firefighters' relief
3 associations, clarifying their purposes and objectives,
4 establishing criteria and standards for the conduct of their
5 affairs, providing for their formation, recognition,
6 continuing operation, and for their dissolution in
7 appropriate circumstances and the distribution of their
8 funds," authorizing funds of volunteer firefighters' relief
9 association in Second Class A counties to be spent on
10 qualified retirement plans.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. Section 6(e) of the act of June 11, 1968
14 (P.L.149, No.84), known as the Volunteer Firefighters' Relief
15 Association Act, amended December 22, 1993 (P.L.547, No.78), is
16 amended and the section is amended by adding a subsection to
17 read:
18 Section 6. Funds.--* * *
19 (e) [The] Except as provided in subsection (e.1), the funds
20 of any volunteer firefighters' relief association may be spent:
21 (1) To pay for such normal and reasonable running expenses
1 as may be appropriate to the businesslike conduct of its affairs
2 including legal fees and including but not by way of limitation
3 the rental or purchase of offices, the payment of reasonable
4 compensation of any needed employes, and the purchase of office
5 equipment and supplies.
6 (2) To purchase contracts of insurance which shall at the
7 least afford financial assistance to active members of the fire
8 service represented by the association against losses due to
9 injury suffered in the fire service and which may also provide
10 in the order named, (i) for payments to the surviving spouse or
11 other dependents of a member in the event of the member's death,
12 (ii) for protection of active firefighters against disease,
13 (iii) for the replacement or purchase of prosthetic devices such
14 as visual aids, hearing aids, dentures, braces, crutches, and
15 the like, where such devices have been lost or damaged while the
16 owner was engaged in the fire service or where the need for such
17 devices arises because of functional impairment attributable to
18 participation in the fire service, (iv) for the repair or
19 replacement if necessary of articles of clothing or pocket
20 pagers damaged or lost in the course of participation in the
21 fire service, and (v) for disability incurred after service for
22 a minimum of twenty years as a volunteer firefighter.
23 (3) To maintain a beneficiary or death benefit fund and to
24 pay a sum certain from that fund to the beneficiary of any
25 participant in that fund upon his or her death. In the event a
26 beneficiary is not designated or a designated one has
27 predeceased the participant, the sum certain shall be paid to
28 the estate of the participant.
29 (4) To pay in full or in part for damage or loss in any of
30 the categories mentioned in clause (2) above in any specific
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1 case in which (i) no policy of insurance is in force which
2 covers the risk, or (ii) the amount payable under insurance
3 policies in force is inadequate to cover the loss.
4 (5) To pay the costs of procuring and forwarding tokens of
5 sympathy and goodwill. To a volunteer firefighter who may be ill
6 or hospitalized as a result of participation in the fire service
7 or who may die or who may be seriously ill for any reason.
8 (6) To make cash payments to families in distressed
9 circumstances by reason of age, infirmities or other
10 disabilities suffered by one of the family in the course of his
11 or her participation in the fire service as a volunteer
12 firefighter.
13 (7) To acquire and maintain membership in any Statewide
14 association or corporation which extends advice and assistance
15 to firefighters' relief associations in the conduct of their
16 affairs and to pay reasonable expenses of travel and maintenance
17 to a duly elected delegate for attendance at such meetings of
18 such Statewide association or corporation.
19 (8) To contribute or to purchase contracts of insurance
20 which will contribute towards the costs of rehabilitating and
21 retraining volunteer firefighters who by reason of their
22 participation in the fire service have suffered a major
23 impairment of their ability to continue their vocation.
24 (9) To pay for medical and surgical bills arising from
25 injuries sustained by volunteer firefighters while engaged in
26 activities of the fire company to the extent that said bills are
27 not covered by insurance provided by the relief association.
28 (10) To pay reasonable expenses actually and necessarily
29 incurred for attending bona fide firefighters' training schools.
30 (11) To purchase safeguards for preserving life, health, and
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1 safety of volunteer firefighters, so as to ensure their
2 availability to participate in the volunteer fire service.
3 (12) To secure insurance against the legal liability of the
4 volunteer firefighters for loss and expense from claims arising
5 out of the performance of their official, authorized duties
6 while going to, returning from or attending fires or while
7 performing their duties as special fire police.
8 (13) To maintain comprehensive health, physical fitness and
9 physical monitoring programs that provide for physical fitness
10 activities, nutrition education and instruction and health and
11 fitness evaluation and monitoring. The programs shall be
12 approved by the nearest State-licensed health care facility
13 which is authorized to provide the service.
14 (14) To purchase exercise and fitness equipment for use by
15 volunteer firefighters. Expenditures for exercise and fitness
16 equipment shall not, however, exceed $2,000 in any two-year
17 period.
18 (15) To purchase fire hose and nozzles.
19 (16) To purchase fire prevention materials for public
20 distribution.
21 (e.1) In addition to the provisions of subsection (e), the
22 funds of any volunteer firefighters' relief association in a
23 Second Class A county may be spent to provide a qualified
24 retirement plan as defined in section 4974(c) of the Internal
25 Revenue Code of 1986 (P.L.99-514, 26 U.S.C. § 4974(c)).
26 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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