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By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review<\/p>\n
PACKWOOD \u2013 HF1002, a bill designed to help volunteer fire departments retain and recruit members, was signed into law by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds at the Packwood Fire Department on June 3, as the governor was surrounded by firefighters from Packwood and surrounding communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross Iowa, volunteer first responders are the backbone of our small towns,\u201d said Reynolds. \u201cYou answer the call day or night, balancing service with family, jobs, and everyday life, often without expecting anything in return. Your courage and commitment makes all the difference, whether it\u2019s a volunteer firefighter running towards and not away from the flames, a medical caregiver who is on hand when our neighbors are in need, or a reserve peace officer with the courage to wear the uniform and accept all the dangers it entails. These everyday heroes are true pillars of our society, and to honor our first responders and encourage more volunteers to join their ranks, we more than doubled the Volunteer First Responder Tax Credit from $100 to $250, and with the signing of House File 1002, we\u2019re taking yet another important step to recognize and reward that service\u2026This is about more than just dollars, it\u2019s about valuing commitment, encouraging retention, and showing our appreciation for those who make our communities stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reynolds signed the bill in Packwood in recognition of one of its fiercest champions, Senator and longtime member of the Packwood Volunteer Fire Department Adrian Dickey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s neat. You know, a neat event for the community of Packwood, a neat event for our department,\u201d said Dickey. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a great department, between our EMS and our firefighters. Sadly, just five days ago, we had a pretty tragic accident that we had to respond to, where a young gal lost her life, and it\u2019s tough. That\u2019s tough on our EMS, our fire department, you have to go through something like that. So this is kind of a nice, maybe part of the healing process. So the timing\u2019s great, having the governor come here to Packwood. You know, we always say Packwood is God\u2019s gift to Iowa, so having this here is a nice little treat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Iowa Firefighters Association had worked for ten years to get the bill passed, the last five of which with Dickey\u2019s help, before it was passed unanimously by the legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I ran for the Senate for the first time five years ago, one of the major reasons was because of the fire service,\u201d said Dickey. \u201cI\u2019ve been a volunteer firefighter for 33 years, and of the 50 senators and 100 reps at the capital, none of them are volunteer firefighters. None of them have the ability to understand what these men and women go through, and they needed a voice to stand up for the issues that they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill allows departments to create length of service award programs for volunteer firefighters, volunteer emergency medical care providers and reserve peace officers. For departments with yearly revenue under $100,000, the state will match every dollar departments put towards award programs threefold, up to $500. The bill, passed after midnight on the final day of the legislative session, also appropriates $1.5 million from sports betting receipts to fund this program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been an advocate for what I call the \u2018true volunteer fire departments,\u2019 departments like Packwood, you know?\u201d said Dickey. \u201cIf they\u2019re having a fundraiser to raise money for a fire hose, it\u2019s a different level. They\u2019re struggling to buy hose, or turn out gear, and they need a little more support than a department like Fairfield that has 10,000 people, who still help their department, but it\u2019s just a different dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dickey explained that different departments will be able to decide the criteria volunteers must meet to receive the funds, for example requiring volunteers attend trainings or go to meetings to be eligible. \u201cOne of the problems in these services, when you\u2019re doing it for free, it\u2019s kinda hard from the fire chief to tell them to do stuff, because I\u2019m doing this for free. It\u2019s on my own time. This is a carrot that the chief can put out there as an incentive,\u201d said the senator.<\/p>\n
Dickey explained that 95% of Iowans rely on volunteer first responders and that, over the past ten years, the number of volunteers has decreased from 19,000 to 15,000. He stated that, if these volunteers were paid minimum wage, they collectively would be paid $100,000,000 yearly, and stated that the bill was a way to give thanks for all they did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re awfully proud of the efforts that he\u2019s put in and what he\u2019s done for the firefighters here in the state, in a lot of the small communities that a lot of times struggle to get volunteers. I think everyone\u2019s real happy to have him be a part of our team,\u201d said Packwood Fire Chief Jeremy Atwood.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review PACKWOOD \u2013 HF1002, a bill designed to help volunteer fire departments retain and recruit members, was signed into law by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds at the Packwood Fire Department on June 3, as the governor was surrounded by firefighters from Packwood and surrounding communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18192,"featured_media":3118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-features","category-local-news","category-news",""],"yoast_head":"\n