It is often said that having a strong sense of community or social engagement is the most important component to achieving personal fulfillment. In today’s technological era, it can be harder and harder to find connection in the real world but volunteerism brings an opportunity not only to help improve the world around us, but also to enrich your own life and sense of purpose.

One area where we have a great need for volunteers is in our volunteer fire companies and emergency responders. Because of our aging population, the number of volunteer firefighters and EMTs has dropped significantly. Not only is this a public safety concern that affects each of us, but it is also a fiscal one – volunteer firefighters save taxpayers $3 billion annually.

To address this, I am proud to announce a new legislative package I am supporting. These bills aim to encourage more citizens to volunteer, particularly young adults (including those in high schools). In fact, the first of these bills would create a new scholarship or student loan forgiveness program for those who volunteer as firefighters or emergency medical personnel (A.7809). The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) also has a targeted program to assist young adults in becoming volunteers and help them get scholarships and other incentives to start their independent adult lives. Learn more about this program at: https://www.fasny.com/youth/.

I am also working to better support those who are already volunteering by making it easier for them to leave work for mandatory fire prevention or EMS training (A.7827). Not only does this bill help the volunteers but also helps their employers by providing tax incentives to offset any lost wages or costs employers may face when their employees are away at these trainings.

To ensure our state continues to do better for our volunteer fire and ambulance companies, I support legislation (A.8307) that would create a Commission on Volunteer Fire Departments. Overseen by the state’s Division of Homeland Security, the commission would investigate ways to better fund volunteer fire companies and provide for their capital improvements without hiking up taxes.

I also am sponsoring legislation to exempt volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers from the state’s income tax (A.7655). Before being elected to the state Assembly, I was proud to help enact this program in Oneida County and am now hopeful we can make this exemption a reality statewide.

Becoming a volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker offers many benefits, including training and education programs, scholarships, tuition reimbursement, reductions on your property taxes, free museum admission, service recognition, tax and pension credit, health insurance benefits and screenings and much more. Perhaps most importantly, volunteering can improve your sense of connection with our community and improve your outlook and skills. To learn more, please contact your local volunteer fire company or go to www.fireinyou.org.

Thank you so much to all those who already serve! As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance, and for more updates, please follow me on Facebook and Twitter.