IFA Legislative Update by Margaret Vaughn – JUNE 2011

END OF SESSION

            The legislature wrapped up their spring session on May 31^st and did not have to go into overtime.  The budget the legislature sent to the Governor was $2 billion less than the Governor proposed so dramatic cuts were made everywhere.

CORNERSTONE

            Fortunately the Fire Prevention Fund remained intact and there were no sweeps.  Because IFA worked diligently to get the law changed last year to make state funding of Cornerstone mandatory, IFSI was able to see a savings in that way the benefits on salaries are now covered by the State and more money is able to go directly to Cornerstone. Overall Cornerstone will see a funding increase of about $100,000 from last year.  Thanks to IFA leading the fight to protect Cornerstone, we have come a long way from two years ago when the funding was wiped out!

PUBLIC NOTICE RELIEF

            The war IFA waged last session to address the problem of fire service wasting money on newspaper notices was not in vain. Though not a perfect solution, the Illinois Press Association did agree to language in SB 1698 which will help lower the costs for such notices. SB 1686 limits the amount that can be charged for any public notice in a newspaper so that it cannot exceed the lowest classified rate by paid other commercial users for comparable space and shall include all cash discounts, multiple insertion discounts and similar benefits extended to the newspaper’s regular customers. SB 1686 was sponsored by Representatives Mautino and Senator Koehler.  Special thanks to Sen. Wilhelmi who was a co-sponsor and took all the heat from the press on behalf of IFA last year with our online budget bill, which ultimately led to the IL Press Association being more willing to work on a compromise this year.  SB 1686 applies to all public notices required by law or any court, so it would include both municipal departments as well as fire protection districts. SB 1698 is now on its way to the Governor.

OPEN BURNING

            HB 1359 sponsored by Rep. Fortner and Sen. Althoff would allow the fire chief or other designated officer of a fire protection district, with the authorization of the Board of Trustees to prohibit open burning on an emergency basis if the

1) atmospheric conditions create an unreasonable fire risk and

2) the fire district’s resources are not sufficient to control the fire. 

Open burning includes but is not limited to the burning of landscape waste, agricultural waste, household trash and garbage.  The open of burning of waste is still subject to the EPA rules.  HB 1359 is on its way to the Governor.

HOTEL SMOKE DETECTORS

            HB 1398 sponsored by Rep. Moffitt and Sen. LaHood , expands the Smoke Detector Act to require hotels to be equipped with at least one approved operating smoke detector within 15 feet of every room used for sleeping purposes.  HB 1398 is on its way to the Governor.

$1000 Volunteer Tax Deduction with Training

            HB 2460 – sponsored by Representatives Brauer (R-Petersburg), Rosenthal (R-Litchfield), Harris (R- Mt. Prospect), Moffitt (R-Galesburg) and Reis (R-Olney). Rep. Rich Brauer introduced HB 2460 at IFA’s request to provide volunteers a $1000 tax deduction who had completed a Basic Firefighter Training Program approved by OSFM.  Though the democratic leadership would not allow a vote to be taken (any tax deduction/credit bills are usually just assigned to a subcommittee without a hearing), they did allow us to have an informational hearing in the House Revenue Committee. Six volunteer fire officials from various parts of the State joined me in offering testimony along with Col. Jaehne.   We stressed how the number of volunteers has decreased and the millions of dollars volunteers save communities who could not otherwise provide fire protection. Rep. Harris, the Minority Spokesperson of the Committee was so impressed with the issue he asked how many volunteers there were and then what percentage would complete the training program and did the math to figure it would not cost the state that much in revenue to implement.  He then became a co-sponsor.  We definitely were able to plant the seed and will continue to keep pursing this issue.

CONTINUED WORK

            Unfortunately several issues got held up at the end of session including HB 1882 – the Brush Truck Loan Fund, SB 1803 Railroad Notification, and HB 1307 – Removing Paramedics from Required DUI Blood Draw Requirement.   We plan to have further discussions on these issues with the hope to move them along during the fall veto session.