NY State Senate Bill 2019-S178

Senate Bill S178

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Directs the office of fire prevention and control to conduct a study which evaluates the minimum recommended qualifications to becoming a volunteer firefighter

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Dec 28, 2020	committed to rules
Feb 27, 2020	advanced to third reading
Feb 26, 2020	2nd report cal.
Feb 25, 2020	1st report cal.461
Jan 08, 2020	referred to finance
Jun 20, 2019	committed to rules
May 20, 2019	advanced to third reading
May 15, 2019	2nd report cal.
May 14, 2019	1st report cal.714
Jan 09, 2019	referred to finance

Votes

- Feb 25, 2020 - Finance Committee Vote
  S178
  
  21
  
  Aye
  
  1
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  1
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Finance Committee Vote: Feb 25, 2020
      
      aye (21)
      
      Bailey
      
      Benjamin
      
      Breslin
      
      Comrie
      
      Gallivan
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Little
      
      Liu
      
      Montgomery
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Robach
      
      Savino
      
      Seward
      
      Skoufis
      
      Stavisky
      
      nay (1)
      
      Thomas
      
      excused (1)
      
      Parker
  May 14, 2019 - Finance Committee Vote
  S178
  
  21
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  1
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  1
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Finance Committee Vote: May 14, 2019
      
      aye (21)
      
      Bailey
      
      Benjamin
      
      Breslin
      
      Comrie
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Little
      
      Liu
      
      Montgomery
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Robach
      
      Savino
      
      Seward
      
      Skoufis
      
      Stavisky
      
      Thomas
      
      aye wr (1)
      
      Antonacci
      
      absent (1)
      
      Parker

2019-S178 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7956
Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Executive
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: S9182
2021-2022: S2256, A506
2023-2024: S3199, A1426
2025-2026: S3431

2019-S178 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Directs the office of fire prevention and control to conduct a study, which evaluates the minimum recommended qualifications to becoming a volunteer firefighter; requires such office to provide a report to the governor, temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly within twelve months of the effective date of this act.

2019-S178 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S178

SPONSOR: HELMING
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to direct the office of fire prevention and control to conduct a
study which evaluates the minimum recommended qualifications to becoming
a volunteer firefighter

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC) shall conduct a study
that examines and evaluates the minimum qualifications recommended for
volunteer firefighters. In addition, this legislation would require
OFPC, within 12 months, to report on the findings of this study to the
Governor, Temporary President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
Assembly.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Sections 1: Directs OFPC to conduct a study, which evaluates the minimum

qualifications recommended to becoming a volunteer firefighter

Section 2: Directs OFPC, within 12 months, to report the findings of
such study to the Governor, Temporary President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the Assembly.

Section 3: Provides an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Recently, there has been a growing shortage of volunteer firefighters
across the entire country and specifically, New York State. This can be
attributed, among various factors, to a change in the economy, which
promotes two-income households and working multiple jobs. Because of
this shift, many people do not have the time to dedicate to becoming a
volunteer firefighter. Those who do decide to become volunteer fire-
fighters and undergo training, oftentimes are required to dedicate
upwards of 20 hours a week on top of their regular employment to
complete this training.

In addition to the additional hours, many firefighters who undergo these
trainings have to travel long distances because of a lack of training
courses close to home. This adds time onto the commitment of completing
the qualifications and serving the community.  Federal regulations apply
to all fire departments in New York State and require that members be
provided with training and education commensurate with the duties and
functions that such members are expected to perform. OFPC and the
Department of Labor's Public Employees Safety and Health Bureau (PESH)
and fire service organizations have developed a recommended set of "Best
Practices" for use by fire departments to assist fire departments in
complying with the Federal regulations. The goal of this study is for
OFPC to evaluate these minimum qualifications, or best practices, recom-
mended to become a volunteer firefighter while considering the shortage
that is having an effect on communities across the state.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S178 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    178
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 9, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to direct the office of fire prevention and control to conduct  a
   study which evaluates the minimum recommended qualifications to becom-
   ing a volunteer firefighter
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The office of fire prevention and control shall  conduct  a
 study that examines and evaluates the recommended minimum qualifications
 for volunteer firefighters.
   (a)  The  type  of  settings included in the study shall be subject to
 funds available but include, at minimum, the coursework required to test
 for the Firefighter certification, or the Firefighter Recruit I  and  II
 certifications,  as  defined  in  part  426  of title 19 of the New York
 Codes, Rules and Regulations, the recommended number of hours of  train-
 ing,  availability  of  training  courses and resources, availability of
 trainers, and minimum qualifications for trainers.
   (b) The study shall take  into  account  factors  including,  but  not
 limited  to:   geographical region, prominent industries in that region,
 demographics of populations and demand for volunteer firefighters.
   § 2. Within twelve months of the  effective  date  of  this  act,  the
 office  of  fire  prevention and control shall submit a report detailing
 the findings of the study to the governor, the  temporary  president  of
 the senate, and the speaker of the assembly.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04991-01-9

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