HD17 - Executive Summary of the Joint Subcommittee Studying Incentives for Fire and Rescue Squad Volunteers HJR 743 (2007)


    Executive Summary:
    The joint subcommittee studying incentives for fire department and rescue squad volunteers held its initial meeting in July of 2007. The first official action of the subcommittee was electing Delegate Tom Rust as its chairman and Senator Nick Rerras as vice-chairman. The other legislative members of the subcommittee were Delegates Bobby Orrock, Tommy Wright, Johnny Joannou, and Senator Phil Puckett. Mr. Garland Hamlett and Mr. Robert M. Woodall, III were the two non-legislative members.

    House Joint Resolution 743 called on the subcommittee to gather information from around the Commonwealth concerning volunteer fire departments and rescue squads and their membership; to determine where the volunteer shortages are throughout the Commonwealth; and to examine incentives provided by other states and their localities, focusing primarily on those jurisdictions surrounding the Commonwealth.

    In addition to the first meeting, the joint subcommittee met three more times -- in August, September, and November. During their meetings, they heard testimony from representatives for the volunteer firefighters and rescue squad members, officials from the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services and the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, a Longwood University sociology professor who extensively researched volunteer fire departments and rescue squads, an attorney who worked on the Virginia Beach volunteer firefighters/emergency medical services personnel Fair Labor Standards Act case, and a number of individual volunteer firefighters and rescue squad members.

    Time after time they were told how difficult it is becoming to recruit and retain volunteers, especially in the more rural regions of the Commonwealth, due to (i) the costs of training and maintaining certification requirements, (ii) the lack of funding by the state for the Volunteer Services Award Program (VOLSAP) Fund, (iii) the travel costs involved for volunteers going to and from the station and on calls, and (iv) the lack of leadership in many departments.

    Therefore, a majority of the joint subcommittee members determined that the aforementioned problems should be addressed with the following recommendations:

    1. A budget appropriation on behalf of the Commonwealth in the amount of $250,000 for the biennium ($125,000 in 2008 and 2009) to the VOLSAP Fund; and

    2. A $0.25 increase in the $4-for-life additional vehicle registration fee, which is paid into a special fund for emergency medical service purposes, to $4.25-for-life, with the additional revenues raised from the increase to be used to defray some of the costs associated with the certification and recertification training of emergency medical services personnel.

    Respectfully submitted,

    Delegate Thomas D. Rust, Chairman
    Senator Nick Rerras, Vice-Chairman
    Delegate Robert D. Orrock, Sr.*
    Delegate Thomas C. Wright, Jr.
    Delegate Johnny S. Joannou**
    Senator Phillip P. Puckett
    Mr. Garland Hamlett
    Mr. Robert M. Woodall, III

    *Supported recommendation #1 only.
    **Supported neither recommendation.