Co-Sponsorship Memo Details

I will be reintroducing legislation that will allow Pennsylvanians to donate all or a portion of their annual Pennsylvania individual income tax return to the Office of the State Fire Commissioner, for use in supporting the grant programs administered by that office.

Currently, taxpayers have the option to donate all or a portion of their return to a number of worthy causes, including the Wild Resource Conservation Fund, the Military Family Relief Assistance Program, the PA Breast and Cervical Cancer Research Fund, the Governor Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund, the Juvenile (Type 1) Diabetes Cure Research Fund, the PA Children's Trust Fund, the American Red Cross, the PA 529 College Savings Program Account, and the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. The Office of the State Fire Commissioner should be added to this list, especially given the crisis Pennsylvania faces in the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.

Any additional funding for the Office of the State Fire Commissioner grant programs will go a long way in supporting our local fire companies, EMS organizations, and volunteer rescue squads. These grants could be used for such necessities as the purchase or repair of equipment, training and certification of their members, or the construction, renovation, or repair of their facilities.

This legislation was Senate Bill 665 of the 2021-2022 legislative session.  Cosponsors included Senators J. Ward, Santarsiero, Cappelletti and Phillips-Hill.  I hope you will join me in supporting this legislation to help our firefighters, EMS personnel, and volunteer rescue squads.