Page 19 - In Command Volume 18 - Ohio Fire Chiefs Association

We are working to protect funding for the FIRE and SAFER programs
for FY 2017. We expect the new Administration to try to cut them or consolidate the programs with other homeland security grant programs in FY 2018.
We also need to reauthorize funding for the U.S Fire Administration this year. It will be important to ensure that USFA has steady funding for the next five years, so it can continue to administer the National Fire Academy. If you have attended the National Fire Academy or received the Executive Fire Officer designation, please let your Senators and Representative know why training at USFA is important and how it helps you protect your community.
In March, Congress was expected
to consider legislation to repeal, revise or replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). The OFCA and the IAFC was involved in the discussions. We asked Congress to renew the add-on payments
that fire and EMS departments
receive for transporting Medicare patients. We also requested that Congress define fire and EMS departments as being “providers”
of ambulance services, instead of
the current designation as “suppli-
ers.” This change would allow fire
and EMS departments to receive
more comprehensive reimburse-
ments for their incurred expenses.
We also recommended that the
new legislation eliminates the
Cadillac tax on generous health
care plans, and protect localities’ abilities to choose the health
insurance they provide to their
local firefighters without excessive
federal penalties. Finally, we made sure that any type of “employer mandate” does not accidentally require fire depart- ments to provide health insurance to their volunteers again.
In the spring and summer, Congress may consider tax reform legislation.
The OFCA and IAFC will be involved in that battle too. We are asking Congress to reinstate the exclusion created by the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act (VRIPA). The new VRIPA legislation would protect, from federal taxation, any property tax benefits and up to $600 in other state and local benefits for volunteer firefight- ers. In addition, we are asking Congress to provide tax benefits to small- and medium-sized businesses that retrofit their properties with automatic fire sprinklers.
Finally, we continue to ask Congress to pass legislation establishing a national voluntary registry to examine the
high rate of cancer in firefighters. The Firefighter Cancer Registry Act (H.R. 931/S. 382) would establish a national registry of firefighters that would include their demographic information, job history, and health information. This information would be made anonymous and compared to information in state cancer registries to determine how to mitigate the risk of cancer. Upon intro- duction, S. 382 had no Ohio cosponsors. Representatives Joyce, Kaptur, Renacci, and Ryan all had cosponsored H.R. 931 in mid-February.
As you can see, there’s a lot of major legislation being considered this year. In order to keep you informed, the IAFC updates its Hot Sheet and Issues Discussion documents monthly. Please download them at www.iafc.org/gr and bring them to DC in early April. As the old saying goes, “If you’re not at the table, you’re the dinner.” u
APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2017 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org InCommand 19