Political Quotes

“I rise to introduce two bills that will benefit the brave women and men who volunteer at our local firehouses: the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act and the Volunteer Firefighters' Length of Service Award Program Cap Adjustment Priority Act. I am pleased to be joined by my friend and colleague from Maryland, Senator Cardin, in reintroducing this bipartisan legislation. Across our nation, volunteer firefighters play a critical role in helping to ensure the safety of our communities and the well-being of our neighbors. The State of Maine, for example, has approximately 11,000 firefighters in more than 400 departments. Because Maine is a largely rural state, more than 90 percent of those firefighters are volunteers. Without these public-spirited citizens, many communities would be unable to provide emergency services protection at all, while others would be forced to raise local taxes to pay salaries and benefits for full- or part-time staff. Often, communities seek to recruit and retain volunteers by offering modest benefits. The bills we are introducing today would support these efforts by helping to ensure that nominal benefits to volunteers are not treated as regular employee compensation.…”