PRINTER'S NO. 442
No. 378 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY TANGRETTI, BUXTON, FABRIZIO, CAUSER, CREIGHTON,
FAIRCHILD, FREEMAN, GEORGE, GERGELY, GODSHALL, GOODMAN,
DeLUCA, EVERETT, FRANKEL, GRELL, GRUCELA, HARHAI, HENNESSEY,
HERSHEY, KILLION, KOTIK, KULA, MAHONEY, MARKOSEK, MARSICO,
MELIO, MILLARD, R. MILLER, MUNDY, NAILOR, O'NEILL, PALLONE,
PETRARCA, PETRONE, PRESTON, PYLE, RAPP, READSHAW, REED,
REICHLEY, ROAE, RUBLEY, SAINATO, SAYLOR, SOLOBAY, SONNEY,
STABACK, STERN, SURRA, VEREB, WALKO, WATSON, WOJNAROSKI,
MARSHALL, GIBBONS, BOYD AND COSTA, FEBRUARY 13, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS, FEBRUARY 13, 2007
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 expenses for emergency medical technician or
10 paramedic training.
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.--* * *
1 (e) [The] Except as provided in subsection (e.1), the funds
2 of any volunteer firefighters' relief association may be spent:
3 (1) To pay for such normal and reasonable running expenses
4 as may be appropriate to the businesslike conduct of its affairs
5 including legal fees and including but not by way of limitation
6 the rental or purchase of offices, the payment of reasonable
7 compensation of any needed employes, and the purchase of office
8 equipment and supplies.
9 (2) To purchase contracts of insurance which shall at the
10 least afford financial assistance to active members of the fire
11 service represented by the association against losses due to
12 injury suffered in the fire service and which may also provide
13 in the order named, (i) for payments to the surviving spouse or
14 other dependents of a member in the event of the member's death,
15 (ii) for protection of active firefighters against disease,
16 (iii) for the replacement or purchase of prosthetic devices such
17 as visual aids, hearing aids, dentures, braces, crutches, and
18 the like, where such devices have been lost or damaged while the
19 owner was engaged in the fire service or where the need for such
20 devices arises because of functional impairment attributable to
21 participation in the fire service, (iv) for the repair or
22 replacement if necessary of articles of clothing or pocket
23 pagers damaged or lost in the course of participation in the
24 fire service, and (v) for disability incurred after service for
25 a minimum of twenty years as a volunteer firefighter.
26 (3) To maintain a beneficiary or death benefit fund and to
27 pay a sum certain from that fund to the beneficiary of any
28 participant in that fund upon his or her death. In the event a
29 beneficiary is not designated or a designated one has
30 predeceased the participant, the sum certain shall be paid to
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1 the estate of the participant.
2 (4) To pay in full or in part for damage or loss in any of
3 the categories mentioned in clause (2) above in any specific
4 case in which (i) no policy of insurance is in force which
5 covers the risk, or (ii) the amount payable under insurance
6 policies in force is inadequate to cover the loss.
7 (5) To pay the costs of procuring and forwarding tokens of
8 sympathy and goodwill. To a volunteer firefighter who may be ill
9 or hospitalized as a result of participation in the fire service
10 or who may die or who may be seriously ill for any reason.
11 (6) To make cash payments to families in distressed
12 circumstances by reason of age, infirmities or other
13 disabilities suffered by one of the family in the course of his
14 or her participation in the fire service as a volunteer
15 firefighter.
16 (7) To acquire and maintain membership in any Statewide
17 association or corporation which extends advice and assistance
18 to firefighters' relief associations in the conduct of their
19 affairs and to pay reasonable expenses of travel and maintenance
20 to a duly elected delegate for attendance at such meetings of
21 such Statewide association or corporation.
22 (8) To contribute or to purchase contracts of insurance
23 which will contribute towards the costs of rehabilitating and
24 retraining volunteer firefighters who by reason of their
25 participation in the fire service have suffered a major
26 impairment of their ability to continue their vocation.
27 (9) To pay for medical and surgical bills arising from
28 injuries sustained by volunteer firefighters while engaged in
29 activities of the fire company to the extent that said bills are
30 not covered by insurance provided by the relief association.
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1 (10) To pay reasonable expenses actually and necessarily
2 incurred for attending bona fide firefighters' training schools.
3 (11) To purchase safeguards for preserving life, health, and
4 safety of volunteer firefighters, so as to ensure their
5 availability to participate in the volunteer fire service.
6 (12) To secure insurance against the legal liability of the
7 volunteer firefighters for loss and expense from claims arising
8 out of the performance of their official, authorized duties
9 while going to, returning from or attending fires or while
10 performing their duties as special fire police.
11 (13) To maintain comprehensive health, physical fitness and
12 physical monitoring programs that provide for physical fitness
13 activities, nutrition education and instruction and health and
14 fitness evaluation and monitoring. The programs shall be
15 approved by the nearest State-licensed health care facility
16 which is authorized to provide the service.
17 (14) To purchase exercise and fitness equipment for use by
18 volunteer firefighters. Expenditures for exercise and fitness
19 equipment shall not, however, exceed $2,000 in any two-year
20 period.
21 (15) To purchase fire hose and nozzles.
22 (16) To purchase fire prevention materials for public
23 distribution.
24 (e.1) In addition to the provisions of subsection (e), the
25 funds of any volunteer firefighters' relief association may be
26 spent to pay reasonable expenses actually and necessarily
27 incurred for attending bona fide emergency medical technician or
28 paramedic training schools.
29 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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