Report of the Maryland Delegates to the NVFC

Transcription

1 Report of the Maryland Delegates to the NVFC March 2014 Meeting of the MSFA Executive Committee In the two months since the Executive Committee meeting in Cordova, your National Volunteer Fire Council representatives have remained extremely engaged with the national office of the Council. We both are preparing for the Spring Board Meeting of the NVFC in the coming month and scheduling work sessions at the NVFC Offices for the MSFA Officers on both, All-State Membership in the NVFC and the ENGAGE legislator communication system. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or Obamacare) As is relates to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or Obamacare) concerns over implications towards volunteer fire and rescue departments, on February 10 the U.S. Department of Treasury published regulations clarifying that bona fide volunteers, including those who receive reasonable benefits or nominal compensation for their service, would not be counted as employees under the employer mandate of Obamacare. This was a top priority for the NVFC. On March 11, the House passed the Barletta bill (H.R. 3979) that would accomplish via statute what the Treasury Department has already done through regulation. The vote was The Senate attached unemployment insurance benefits extension to H.R and passed it on April 7. This is basically the unemployment insurance bill now and if the House takes any action on it they will probably attach some additional riders to it. One area of concern that is emerging is with compensated volunteers who don t fit the description of a volunteer under Department of Labor regulations and aren t likely to be considered exempt from the PPACA either, although it is doubtful Treasury will go out of their way to enforce this against them in the next couple of years. Some of these folks are just part-time paid personnel but some of them train and perform various other functions on a volunteer basis but their level of per-call pay (and the fact that it is often provided to them on an hourly basis) makes them employees in the eyes of DOL. IAFC is apparently really getting beat up by their members about this, particularly from the part-time paid departments that clearly aren t covered by the volunteer exemption. We haven t heard much from our folks

2 but we suspect that there are some number of people who assume that the volunteer exemption from PPACA applies to them when it actually may not. We did include the IRS Regulations regarding this exemption in our Report in February. Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act The Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act (VESRRA), would simplify how Length of Service Award Programs (LOSAPs) are taxed without increasing or reducing federal spending or taxes. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Representative Peter King (R-NY) have introduced the Senate and House versions of VESRRA, respectively (S. 506 and H.R. 1009). Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act The Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act (VRIPRA) extends an income tax exemption on volunteer benefits that lapsed at the end of Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced the Senate version (S. 501) Representative John Larson (D-CT) introduced the House version (H.R. 3747). Health and Safety The NVFC has launched a national behavioral health campaign called Share the Load and is providing training and other health and safety resources through a Fire Prevention & Safety grant. The NVFC will hold a Training Summit in June in Myrtle Beach that will focus on health & safety and fire prevention. Fire Corps Currently there are 1,477 programs and more than 20,000 volunteers. Materials, training and resources to start or grow a program are available at

3 National Junior Firefighter Program Through last year s FP&S grant, the NVFC developed and delivered the Training the Next Generation Workshop, a four-hour course for program advisors and department leadership on developing their local program. The course is now available on-demand on the NVFC s online training platform. Through support from Tyco and Spartan, the NVFC also continued the Junior Firefighter and Junior Firefighter Program of the Year Awards and delivered a hands-on training event, and will publish a guide for finding funding for junior firefighter programs. Your NVFC Delegates wish to offer our sincere and heartfelt congratulations to Washington County High School Fire and Rescue Academy on being selected as NVFC s Junior Firefighter Program of the Year. This is the second year in a row (Arcadia in 2013) that a Maryland program has won this prestigious award. Volunteer Firefighter Support Fund The NVFC continues to provide the Volunteer Firefighter Support Fund for first responders who have experienced an uninsurable loss in a disaster. In 2013, 195 individuals were awarded stipends through the Volunteer Firefighter Support fund, for a total of $48,750. Most of these recipients were victims of Hurricane Sandy. Wildland Fire Assessment Program (WFAP) U.S. Forest Service The NVFC, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, created the Wildland Fire Assessment Program (WFAP). WFAP is a train-the-trainer program that teaches departments how to conduct home assessments in the wildland-urban interface. The course is online at no cost. Communications We continue to inform our members through e-newsletters, web sites, and social media (including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube). Recent interviews include Fox News, NPR, Cox Media, USA Today, Reuters, and Fortune Magazine, among many others. Media outreach efforts continuously keep the NVFC s initiatives, programs, and expertise in industry publications and web sites. In addition, a dozen state association publications feature an NVFC article in each issue, and we are working to increase the number of publications that run these articles.

4 Dave Lewis represented NVFC at: Assistance to Firefighters Grant program peer reviews on February and again from March 31 - April 4. Smart Firefighting Study on March in Arlington, VA. Stakeholder Engagement on Improving Survivability in IED and Active Shooter Incidents on February 5-6 in Washington DC. Health and Safety Committee meeting on December 16 in Alexandria and conference call on April 2. Jimmy Seavey, Sr, represented the NVFC at: A meeting of the NVFC International Relations Committee Work Session on DisplayExhibit of the NVFC at Interschutz 2015 in Germany next year. Preparation of meetings for All-State Membership and ENGAGE at NVFC Office. Joint NVFC/VCOS Leadership Summit at respective Spring Board Meetings in Virginia. Both of your Delegates will be attending the NVFC Spring Meeting in Alexandria on May 2-3. Dave will be attending NVFC's Volunteer Training Summit in Myrtle Beach on June Membership The NVFC currently has nearly 17,00 members, with the bulk of our membership coming from states participating in the All-State Membership program, including North Carolina and Texas. As you are aware, the MSFA leadership has endorsed this great tool for our member companies and this membership program will be heavily marketed in the coming months in our State. Membership benefits include access to members-only resource, discounts from partners such as Columbia Southern University, MSA, Firehouse events, and others; as well eligibility for scholarships, gear donations and more. Visit for a full list of member benefits. Chevrolet Partnership The NVFC has entered into a two-year partnership with Chevrolet. Details of the partnership are still being determined, but will include trade show exhibits, outreach, and likely incentive pricing for firefighters.

5 Columbia Southern University Scholarships The NVFC received 24 applications for the 2013 Columbia Southern University scholarships and two scholarships were awarded in October. CSU provides the two 2-year scholarships each year for members of the NVFC to pursue any of CSU s online degree programs. Globe Gear Giveaway Program For the third year, the NVFC and Globe have partnered to offer the Globe Gear Giveaway Program. In 2014, the program is open to NVFC members and Globe will provide 200 departments with a complimentary NVFC membership. Fifty-two (52) sets of gear will also be awarded to departments. The application deadline is June 1, NVFC/ATS $250,000 Training Giveaway Action Training Systems and the NVFC have partnered to provide $250,000 worth of online training to 50 departments. Enter to win through the NVFC site at: the deadline is May 1. Winners will be announced daily during International Fire/EMS Safety and Health Week which is June Motorola Through support from Motorola, the NVFC developed a four-hour course covering each of the topics in Volunteer Firefighter Health and Safety Priorities: Behavior, Equipment, Standards and Codes, and Training. The grant from Motorola allowed the NVFC to take the B.E.S.T., Retention and Recruitment, Leadership, Grant Writing, and Volunteer to Combination trainings nationwide throughout The Lighthouse Uniform Company s Brereavement Program is an extremely beneficial program for Departments that lose a member either in the line of duty or from an off- duty death. At the February Meeting in Cordova, we were told that the Lighthouse Uniform Company would be at the Executive Committee Meeting in April to explain the proposal and we would encourage a vote to have the MSFA formally endorse and adopt the Program.

6 Future meetings of the National Volunteer Fire Council shall be held as follows: Spring of Alexandria, Virginia; Fall of Lafayette, Louisiana; Spring of Alexandria, Virginia; Fall of Concord, North Carolina. Respectfully submitted, Chief James P. Seavey, Sr. Director Past President David W. Lewis Alternate April 12, 2014