PRINTER'S NO. 4230
No. 2972 Session of 1990
INTRODUCED BY MAYERNIK, McVERRY, CARLSON, TANGRETTI, MARKOSEK,
VAN HORNE, STABACK, FARGO, PISTELLA, COY, GIGLIOTTI,
MIHALICH, COLAIZZO, D. F. CLARK, MELIO, RYBAK, RAYMOND,
CIVERA, MAINE, DIETTERICK AND JOSEPHS, NOVEMBER 12, 1990
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NOVEMBER 12, 1990
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," making
8 editorial changes.
9 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11 Section 1. The title and section 1 of the act of June 11,
12 1968 (P.L.149, No.84), known as the Volunteer Firemen's Relief
13 Association Act, are amended to read:
14 AN ACT
15 Relating to volunteer [firemen's] firefighters' relief
16 associations, clarifying their purposes and objectives,
17 establishing criteria and standards for the conduct of their
18 affairs, providing for their formation, recognition,
19 continuing operation, and for their dissolution in
20 appropriate circumstances and the distribution of their
1 funds.
2 Section 1. Short Title.--This act shall be known and may be
3 cited as the "Volunteer [Firemen's] Firefighters' Relief
4 Association Act."
5 Section 2. Section 2 of the act, amended June 21, 1984
6 (P.L.427, No.86), is amended to read:
7 Section 2. Definitions.--As used in this act:
8 (1) A volunteer [firemen's] firefighters' relief association
9 is an organization formed primarily for the purpose of affording
10 financial protection to volunteer [firemen] firefighters against
11 the consequences of misfortune suffered as a result of their
12 participation in the fire service. Such an association may also
13 serve other purposes, as hereinafter set forth, provided only
14 that adequate provisions be first made to serve its primary
15 purpose. It may comprehend within its membership the members of
16 one or more fire companies.
17 (2) The fire service comprehends the service of organized
18 groups of individuals, not only in training for and in active
19 duty in the protection of the public against fire, but also in
20 the training for and the performance of such other activities as
21 are commonly undertaken by fire companies and their affiliated
22 organizations, including, inter alia, fire prevention, first
23 aid, rescue and salvage, ambulance service, fire police work,
24 radio communications, assistance at accidents, control of crowds
25 both on the fire grounds and at occasions of public or general
26 assembly, animal rescue, abatement of conditions due to storm,
27 flood, or general peril, abatement or removal of hazards to
28 safety, and participation in public celebrations, parades,
29 demonstrations, and fund-raising campaigns.
30 (3) Volunteer [fireman] firefighter comprehends any member
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1 of a fire company, organized and existing under the laws of the
2 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and also any member of any fire
3 police unit, rescue squad, ambulance corps, or other like
4 organization affiliated with one or more fire companies, and
5 refers to any individual who is a member of such a fire company
6 or affiliated organization and who participates in the fire
7 service, but does not look to that service as his primary means
8 of livelihood. A person shall not lose his status as a volunteer
9 [fireman] firefighter solely because he may also be a paid
10 firefighter, as long as he is acting within the scope of his
11 responsibilities as a member of a volunteer fire company at the
12 time and not within the scope of his responsibilities as a paid
13 firefighter.
14 Section 3. Sections 3, 4 and 5(a) and (e) of the act are
15 amended to read:
16 Section 3. Statement of Purpose.--The purpose of the
17 Legislature in enacting this statute is to encourage individuals
18 to take part in the fire service as volunteer [firemen]
19 firefighters, by establishing criteria and standards for the
20 orderly administration and conduct of the affairs of [firemen's]
21 firefighters' relief associations, so as to ensure, as far as
22 circumstances will reasonably permit, that funds shall be
23 available for the protection of volunteer [firemen] firefighters
24 and their heirs:
25 (1) To provide financial assistance to volunteer [firemen]
26 firefighters who may suffer injury or misfortune by reason of
27 their participation in the fire service;
28 (2) To provide financial assistance to the widow, children,
29 and/or other dependents of volunteer [firemen] firefighters who
30 lose their lives as a result of their participation in the fire
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1 service;
2 (3) To provide, either by insurance or by the operation of a
3 beneficial fund, for the payment of a sum certain to the
4 designated beneficiaries of a participating member in such fund
5 following the death of such member for any cause, and to
6 establish criteria which members must meet in order to qualify
7 as participants in such death benefit fund;
8 (4) To provide safeguards for preserving life, health and
9 safety of volunteer [firemen] firefighters, so as to ensure
10 their availability to participate in the fire service;
11 (5) To provide financial assistance to volunteer [firemen]
12 firefighters who, after having actively participated in the fire
13 service for a specified minimum term, are no longer physically
14 able to continue such participation and are in need of financial
15 assistance;
16 (6) To provide funds to aid the rehabilitation of volunteer
17 [firemen] firefighters who have suffered an impairment of their
18 physical capacity to continue to perform their normal
19 occupations; and
20 (7) In any event, to provide sufficient funds to ensure the
21 efficient and economical handling of the business of the
22 association in accomplishing the objectives hereinabove set
23 forth.
24 Section 4. Construction.--This act shall be construed,
25 applied, and interpreted, so far as circumstances permit, as
26 justifying the actions of the officers and members of volunteer
27 [firemen's] firefighters' relief associations affected by it,
28 when such actions appear to have been taken in good faith and in
29 a bona fide belief that they were in furtherance of the purposes
30 of this act, but shall be strictly construed and applied against
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1 those responsible for actions taken in wilful disregard of the
2 purposes of this act, or with reckless indifference to such
3 purposes, and in particular, where any action called into
4 question results or has resulted or was likely to result in an
5 unmerited personal benefit to one or more of those responsible
6 for the taking of such action.
7 Section 5. Structure.--(a) A volunteer [firemen's]
8 firefighters' relief association may be a body corporate,
9 governed by a charter and bylaws, or it may be an unincorporated
10 association of individuals, governed by a constitution and
11 bylaws. In either case, it must provide for the taking and
12 preserving of minutes of all meetings, and the maintenance of
13 such books of account as may be necessary and appropriate to
14 afford a permanent record of its fiscal affairs.
15 * * *
16 (e) Any volunteer [firemen's] firefighters' relief
17 association organized or conducted in accordance with the
18 requirements of this section shall be regarded as a charitable
19 corporation for all purposes including the right to establish
20 exemption from the operation of certain taxes.
21 Section 4. Section 6 of the act, amended March 23, 1972
22 (P.L.119, No.44) and March 7, 1982 (P.L.168, No.53), is amended
23 to read:
24 Section 6. (a) Any volunteer [firemen's] firefighters'
25 relief association shall have the right to solicit and receive
26 gifts and contributions from any source including municipal
27 corporations. It shall not have the right to receive any portion
28 of the moneys distributed to the political subdivisions of the
29 Commonwealth under the provisions of the act of June 28, 1895
30 (P.L.408), unless and until the governing body of at least one
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1 such political subdivision shall have certified to the Auditor
2 General that such association is in fact a bona fide volunteer
3 [firemen's] firefighters' relief association affiliated with a
4 fire company which affords protection against fire to all or a
5 portion of the political subdivision.
6 (b) The funds of any volunteer [firemen's] firefighters'
7 relief association may be deposited in any bank, trust company,
8 or other banking establishment accredited by the Commonwealth or
9 insured by the Government of the United States.
10 (c) All, or any part of the funds of any volunteer
11 [firemen's] firefighters' relief association may be invested:
12 (1) In any form of investment named in the Fiduciaries Act
13 of 1949, as amended, including first mortgages. Such first
14 mortgages insuring repayment of loans by relief associations
15 must provide for a minimum interest payment of three per cent
16 and not exceed eighty per cent of the appraised value of the
17 real property covered by the mortgage.
18 (2) In any obligation of a political subdivision, having the
19 power to levy or collect taxes, or
20 (3) In any obligation of an incorporated fire company which
21 obligation is secured by assets of the company having capital
22 value equal to at least one hundred fifty per cent of the amount
23 of the obligation at the time it is made, and is subject to
24 provisions which will amortize such loan at a rate ensuring that
25 the depreciated value of the assets pledged shall continue to be
26 at least equal to one hundred fifty per cent of the balance
27 remaining due.
28 (d) No investment shall be acquired, encumbered or sold
29 except pursuant to a resolution duly enacted by the governing
30 body of the association. The income from investments however may
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1 be invested or spent in the same way as any other income.
2 (e) The funds of any volunteer [firemen's] firefighters'
3 relief association may be spent:
4 (1) To pay for such normal and reasonable running expenses
5 as may be appropriate to the businesslike conduct of its affairs
6 including legal fees and including but not by way of limitation
7 the rental or purchase of offices, the payment of reasonable
8 compensation of any needed employes, and the purchase of office
9 equipment and supplies.
10 (2) To purchase contracts of insurance which shall at the
11 least afford financial assistance to active members of the fire
12 service represented by the association against losses due to
13 injury suffered in the fire service and which may also provide
14 in the order named, (i) for payments to the widow or other
15 dependents of a member in the event of his death, (ii) for
16 protection of active [firemen] firefighters against disease,
17 (iii) for the replacement or purchase of prosthetic devices such
18 as visual aids, hearing aids, dentures, braces, crutches, and
19 the like, where such devices have been lost or damaged while the
20 owner was engaged in the fire service or where the need for such
21 devices arises because of functional impairment attributable to
22 participation in the fire service, (iv) for the repair or
23 replacement if necessary of articles of clothing damaged in the
24 course of participation in the fire service, and (v) for
25 disability incurred after service for a minimum of twenty years
26 as a volunteer [fireman] firefighter.
27 (3) To maintain a beneficiary or death benefit fund and to
28 pay a sum certain from that fund to the beneficiary of any
29 participant in that fund upon his death. In the event a
30 beneficiary is not designated or a designated one has
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1 predeceased the participant, the sum certain shall be paid to
2 the estate of the participant.
3 (4) To pay in full or in part for damage or loss in any of
4 the categories mentioned in clause (2) above in any specific
5 case in which (i) no policy of insurance is in force which
6 covers the risk, or (ii) the amount payable under insurance
7 policies in force is inadequate to cover the loss.
8 (5) To pay the costs of procuring and forwarding tokens of
9 sympathy and goodwill. To a volunteer [fireman] firefighter who
10 may be ill or hospitalized as a result of participation in the
11 fire service or who may die or who may be seriously ill for any
12 reason.
13 (6) To make cash payments to families in distressed
14 circumstances by reason of age, infirmities or other
15 disabilities suffered by one of the family in the course of his
16 participation in the fire service as a volunteer [fireman]
17 firefighter.
18 (7) To acquire and maintain membership in any Statewide
19 association or corporation which extends advice and assistance
20 to [firemen's] firefighters' relief associations in the conduct
21 of their affairs and to pay reasonable expenses of travel and
22 maintenance to a duly elected delegate for attendance at such
23 meetings of such Statewide association or corporation.
24 (8) To contribute or to purchase contracts of insurance
25 which will contribute towards the costs of rehabilitating and
26 retraining volunteer [firemen] firefighters who by reason of
27 their participation in the fire service have suffered a major
28 impairment of their ability to continue their vocation.
29 (9) To pay for medical and surgical bills arising from
30 injuries sustained by volunteer [firemen] firefighters while
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1 engaged in activities of the fire company to the extent that
2 said bills are not covered by insurance provided by the relief
3 association.
4 (10) To pay reasonable expenses actually and necessarily
5 incurred for attending bona fide [firemen's] firefighters'
6 training schools.
7 (11) To purchase safeguards for preserving life, health, and
8 safety of volunteer [firemen] firefighters, so as to ensure
9 their availability to participate in the volunteer fire service.
10 (12) To secure insurance against the legal liability of the
11 volunteer [firemen] firefighters for loss and expense from
12 claims arising out of the performance of their official,
13 authorized duties while going to, returning
14 Section 5. Sections 7 and 8(a) and (c) of the act are
15 amended to read:
16 Section 7. Audits.--(a) The Department of the Auditor
17 General shall have the power, and its duty shall be, to audit
18 the accounts and records of every volunteer [firemen's]
19 firefighters' relief association receiving any money under the
20 act of June 28, 1895 (P.L.408), as amended, as far as may be
21 necessary to satisfy the department that the money received was
22 expended or is being expended for no purpose other than that
23 authorized by this act. Copies of all such audits shall be
24 furnished to the Governor.
25 (b) If at any time the Department of the Auditor General
26 shall find that any money received by a volunteer [firemen's]
27 firefighters' relief association has been expended for any
28 purpose other than those authorized by this act, it shall
29 forthwith notify the Governor, and shall decline to approve any
30 further requisition calling for payment to such volunteer
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1 [firemen's] firefighters' relief association, until an amount
2 equal to that improperly expended shall have been reimbursed to
3 the relief association fund.
4 Section 8. Dissolution.--(a) If a majority of those voting
5 in a referendum conducted in any political subdivision shall
6 decide in accordance with the act of June 13, 1955 (P.L.173), to
7 replace a volunteer fire company serving such subdivision with a
8 full-paid fire department or company and the volunteer company
9 so replaced ceases to render fire service to any community it
10 shall withdraw from the volunteer [firemen's] firefighters'
11 relief association which theretofore extended protection to its
12 membership.
13 * * *
14 (c) The volunteer [firemen's] firefighters' relief
15 association so functioning shall not receive any new members.
16 * * *
17 Section 6. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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