Posted: | January 24, 2017 09:38 AM |
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From: | Representative Tina M. Davis |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Legislation Providing for Grants for Volunteer Fire Companies and Emergency Service Providers |
In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that would amend Section 1403 of Title 4 (Amusements) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes that would allow for volunteer fire companies and emergency service providers located in eligible municipalities to apply directly to their counties for casino impact grants. Currently, grant applications must be submitted through the municipal grant program for consideration by the county in which the municipality is located. Although the municipality application process will remain intact under this legislation, volunteer fire companies and emergency medical service providers would have the option of applying directly to the county. Unfortunately, impact grants far too often fall victim to political gamesmanship that is not in the best interest of our communities, residents, or emergency responders. Therefore, it is my hope that by providing volunteer fire companies and non-profit EMS organizations with the ability to apply directly to a county’s re-development authority (or some other administrative agency that a county may use), we can remove politics from this process and provide funding to first responders who truly understand and experience the sometimes negative impact of casinos in their communities. I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB497