Several provisions from bipartisan legislation co-authored by U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to encourage the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel were recently made law as part of a larger legislative package.
The language from the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act of 2019, p. 1210, which Sen. Collins introduced in April 2019 with senior co-sponsor US Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), was incorporated into the federal government’s budget law for the fiscal year 2021, HR, incorporated 133, which the President incorporated into law on December 27, 2020.
“These bipartisan regulations, which Senator Cardin and I wrote, will protect low-cost incentives that support the brave men and women who volunteer to protect their communities,” Senator Collins said on Jan. 12.
Specifically, the regulations will allow communities to provide volunteer firefighters and rescue workers up to $ 600 per year in property tax breaks or other incentives that are not subject to federal income tax and withholding taxes. This is evident from a legislative summary submitted by Sen. Collins. Office. Such tax breaks will help ease the administrative burden on local departments if they reward volunteers with low benefits.
“Across our country, volunteer firefighters are playing a vital role in keeping our communities safe, especially as firefighters continue to work with those on the front lines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Maine is largely a rural state and more than 90 percent of firefighters are volunteers, ”said Sen. Collins, who serves as co-chair of the Fire Department Caucus of Congress. “Without these non-profit citizens, many smaller communities would not be able to provide fire-fighting and other emergency services at all.”
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