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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 23, 2023 09:23 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative P. Michael Sturla |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Grants to Fire Companies |
| In the near future, I will introduce legislation to expand the eligibility of the grants in the state’s Fire Company and Emergency Medical Services Grant Program. This program is funded annually at $30 million to provide grants between $2,500-$15,000 per fire company regardless of whether it is volunteer or municipal. Under current law, a municipality like Greensburg, who has six volunteer companies serving a total population of nearly 15,000, qualifies for six separate grants for a possible total of $90,000. Contrast this with the City of Philadelphia who only qualifies for one grant up to $15,000 despite having one fire department with 63 firehouses that serves over 1.5 million residents. We need to make this program fairer and more equitable by amending the law to provide for a definition of “firehouse”, which is not currently defined, and establish an additional exception that would allow each firehouse, not just the fire company, to be eligible for the grant. No fire company would receive less funds. My proposal would only add an estimated $5 million cost to the program, but it would make a significant difference to many municipalities struggling to provide fire service. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. |
Introduced as HB680