SENATE ACTS ON HOUSE BILL TO EXTEND $25 MILLION GRANT PROGRAM
FOR VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANIES AND AMBULANCE ASSOCIATIONS

          Harrisburg, June 13, 2007 -- Senate Democratic Whip Michael A. O'Pake (D-Berks) today applauded the Senate's unanimous passage of House-passed legislation (HB 906) to reauthorize and extend the state's $25 million annual grant program to aid Pennsylvania's volunteer fire companies and ambulance associations.
          "Even though the Senate passed its own bill (SB 10) to do this back in February, the Senate action on the House bill is intended to get this to the Governor's desk as soon as possible," O'Pake said.
          In Senate floor remarks, O'Pake noted that the grant program has been of tremendous assistance to Pennsylvania's emergency service first responders in helping to pay for vital equipment and facilities.
          "In the last round of grants, a total of 63 volunteer fire companies and 12 ambulance associations in my home county of Berks received a total of $767,923 in grants.
          "Since the inception of the program (in 2000), Berks County volunteer fire and ambulance companies have been awarded nearly $3 million in grants. That's a lot of chicken barbecues, and breakfasts and ham and bean suppers, and it's the least we in state government should be doing.               
          "Because, the fact is, our volunteers perform a critical public service in our communities -- a service we cannot do without," O'Pake said.
          The legislation reauthorizes the grant program for at least the next five years and provides for a one-time "combined application process" to cut down on paperwork for the volunteers in receiving their grants for the current fiscal year and the new fiscal year that starts July 1.
          O'Pake is also the prime sponsor of legislation (SB 23) that would grant active volunteer firefighters and active volunteer emergency medical service personnel a $250 state income tax credit.  That legislation received Senate Finance Committee approval June 6 and has now been re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration.

                                                                        ###