NY State Senate Bill 2023-S6098

Senate Bill S6098

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Provides that a fire company may elect to include call firefighters within its membership who shall receive a stipend for each call that he or she responds to

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government 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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to local government
Mar 29, 2023	referred to local government

2023-S6098 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5744
Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: General Municipal Law
Laws Affected:: Add §201-a, Gen Muni L

2023-S6098 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that a fire company may elect to include call firefighters within its membership who shall receive a stipend for each call that he or she responds to.

2023-S6098 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6098

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to call fire-
fighters

 
PURPOSE OF BILL:

This bill seeks to address the shortage of volunteer firefighters
throughout the State by allowing volunteer fire companies to utilize
paid on call firefighters. Call firefighters will perform the same func-
tion as volunteer firefighters but will be paid a small stipend for each
call.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Adds a new section 201-a to the General Municipal Law provid-
ing municipalities and entities that operate a volunteer fire company
the option of including call firefighters within its membership. The
section also creates a pay cap of $50 per call, $5,000 a year per person

and provides call firefighters with the same status and benefits as
volunteer firefighters including the Length of Service Award Program
(LOSAP). Lastly, the section prohibits call firefighters from being
entitled to any pension or retirement benefits afforded to full-time
professional firefighters.

Section 2. Sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, communities throughout New York State
have struggled with recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters. By
allowing for paid on call firefighters, communities will be empowered to
address this issue. This is a common and effective practice utilized in
other states. Therefore, New York should adopt this policy to empower
communities struggling with recruitment and retention of firefighters.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Senate

New Bill.

Assembly

2022-2023: A5744, Referred to local governments

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S6098 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6098
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 29, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
 
 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in  relation  to  call  fire-
   fighters
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. The general municipal  law  is  amended  by  adding  a  new
 section 201-a to read as follows:
   §  201-A.  CALL FIREFIGHTERS.  ANY VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY OF A COUNTY,
 CITY, TOWN, VILLAGE, FIRE DISTRICT,  FIRE  PROTECTION  DISTRICT  OR  ANY
 OTHER  ENTITY  THAT  OPERATES  A  VOLUNTEER  FIRE  COMPANY, MAY ELECT TO
 INCLUDE WITHIN ITS MEMBERSHIP, CALL FIREFIGHTERS. SUCH CALL FIREFIGHTERS
 SHALL SERVE AT THE CALL OF THE FIRE COMPANY, AND SHALL RECEIVE A STIPEND
 EACH TIME SUCH CALL FIREFIGHTER RESPONDS TO A CALL BY SUCH FIRE COMPANY.
 THE AMOUNT OF SUCH STIPEND SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE FIRE COMPANY,  BUT
 SHALL NOT EXCEED FIFTY DOLLARS PER CALL OR FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ANNUAL-
 LY  PER CALL FIREFIGHTER.  CALL FIREFIGHTERS SHALL MEET ALL CRITERIA AND
 REQUIREMENTS NECESSARY TO BE A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER.    CANDIDATES  FOR
 CALL  FIREFIGHTERS  SHALL APPLY TO THE FIRE COMPANY IN A MANNER AND FORM
 TO BE DETERMINED BY SUCH FIRE COMPANY. CALL FIREFIGHTERS  SHALL  IN  ALL
 RESPECTS  BE  AFFORDED THE STATUS AND BENEFITS OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS
 AND SHALL BE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN  THE  LENGTH  OF  SERVICE  AWARD
 PROGRAM,  PROVIDED  HOWEVER THAT CALL FIREFIGHTERS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED
 TO ANY PENSION OR RETIREMENT BENEFITS AFFORDED TO FULL-TIME PROFESSIONAL
 FIREFIGHTERS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07329-01-3

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.