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Gov. Kim Reynolds visits Packwood for bill-signing ceremony
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
PACKWOOD – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds visited Packwood Tuesday afternoon, June 3, for a bill-signing ceremony on legislation that provides financial incentives to volunteer first-responders.
Reynolds chose to sign the bill at the Packwood Fire Station because the bill was spearheaded by Sen. Adrian Dickey of Packwood, who spoke at the ceremony surrounded by fellow members of Packwood Volunteer Fire and Rescue. Dickey has been a volunteer on the department for 33 years.
The bill, known as Senate File 627 and by its House version HF 1002, creates a Length Of Service Award Program (LOSAP) to retain volunteer firefighters, emergency medical service technicians, and law enforcement reserves. The legislation provides $1.5 million per year in matching dollars from the state, which can grow to $5 million.
In a statement released before the signing ceremony, Sen. Dickey remarked that 12,000 men and women in Iowa serve as firefighters with no pay.
“They receive no financial incentive to do a ‘job’ that calls for life risking actions and one that demands hundreds of hours away from their jobs and families every year,” he wrote.
Dickey added that one of the reasons he ran for his Iowa Senate seat was seeing that none of the 100 members of the House or 50 members of the Senate were volunteer EMS or firefighters.
Gov. Reynolds said in her prepared remarks that Iowans have relied on volunteer first responders for more than a century, “dating all the way back to our pioneer past.”
“Today, countless communities still depend on their service and self-sacrifice in the case of unexpected emergencies,” Gov. Reynolds said in a press release. “These everyday heroes are pillars of Iowa communities, and it is vital that we honor their service and reward their dedication. I’m thankful to our legislators and key stakeholders for getting this bill across the finish line.”
In one of his “Dickey Dispatch” columns from February, Sen. Dickey explained that the LOSAP bill would establish a small retirement plan for volunteer fire departments based on the number of years their volunteers serve. He wrote that, if these volunteers were paid for their service, it would cost Iowa taxpayers over $1 billion annually.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
