New York State Assembly voted on May 14 to quadruple the state credit available to volunteer firefighters and EMTs, raising it from $200 to $800 for individual and from $400 to $1600 for joint filers.
Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon, D-Marcy, who cosponsored Assembly Bill A.6790-A, noted the legislation builds upon the state’s ongoing efforts to bolster the volunteer ranks of fire departments and ambulatory service providers in the empire state, which have experienced a decades-long decline in membership, losing 40% of those volunteer forces in the past 10 years alone.
If subsequently passed by the state Senate, according to a statement issued by Buttenschon, the new law would award personal income tax credit increases to NY State volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers. It was recommended by the Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment and Retention Task Force convened by the State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services in 2022 and would serve as an incentive to enhance the State’s ongoing efforts to expand the volunteer ranks of fire departments and ambulatory service providers “in recognition of the invaluable service these men and women provide to our citizens and communities.”
“Our volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers are the backbone of emergency services throughout New York,” Assemblymember Buttenschon said in a statement.
“They rush toward danger when others flee, often balancing this service with full-time jobs and family responsibilities. This bill, born out of the recommendations of the Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment and Retention Task Force, reflects our commitment to acting on the real-world needs of our volunteers and is a concrete step toward strengthening their ranks to ensure we can continue recruiting and retaining the dedicated volunteers our communities depend on.”
Assemblyman and candidate for the U.S. Congressional seat representing New York’s 22nd District, Robert Smullen, who co-sponsored the bill with Buttenschon and a bi-partisan coalition of 51 other Assembly member, says the gesture fails to go far enough.
“While this is a long-overdue step forward in supporting the brave men and women who serve our communities as volunteers, this bill still falls well short of the real relief our first responders deserve,” said Smullen in a statement
He also noted that another piece of legislation he co-sponsored in the Assembly, A.1064 – which would have delivered a full $2,500 tax credit – failed to pass along what he said were essentially party lines.
Urgency of decline in NY volunteer firefighters, ambulance workers ‘cannot be overstated’
New York State has faced “a decades-long decline” in its volunteer emergency services workforce, which ranks have hit a record lowest level in over 40 years, down over 40,000 volunteers in the last twenty years alone, according to Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY) data.
Clark Mills Volunteer Fire Chief Greg Kulpa plead for more volunteers not long ago at a fundraising event where community members banded together to inspire donations to pay for a generator for what is the second smallest fire district in Oneida County.
Said Kulpa as he encouraged folks to consider joining the volunteer department, “We could always use more volunteers at the fire department.”
The legislation now awaits consideration in the Senate Committee on Budget and Revenue.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: State Assembly votes to raise tax credit for volunteer firefighters
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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