There is lots of news from CSFA’s Legislative Representative Leon Collins in his weekly update today. Learn the latest on bills that we are tracking for the Fire Service and read about upcoming meetings at the LOB. Also, find out how you can help by submitting written testimony to legislators for our most important proposed legislation.

This week’s CSFA Legislative Update has news of the Governor’s Budget that was released this past week. Also, get the updated House Bill Status Report and find out how you can help a bill that proposes to put smoke detectors in Connecticut homes.

This week’s update has lots of news on the public hearings that were held this past week. Also, read in Leon’s update how you can help the Fire Service by submitting testimony to legislators.

More than twenty new bills directly or indirectly related to the Fire Service were proposed this past week and are now being tracked in our House Bill Status Report. For those who are following weekly, this week’s new related bills begin with H.B. 6516 from the House and with S.B. 699 from the Senate. There continue to be new bills introduced on a wide variety of issues and I encourage everyone to take some time to review the entire list of related proposed bills that now number about 100.

We are pleased to continue to see proposals related to our top priorities: funding for the construction and operation of our Regional Fire Schools, funding for our cancer legislation, and legislation related to Post Traumatic Stress for first responders.

One public hearing on a Fire Service related bill is scheduled in front of the Joint Committee on Public Health for next week.

We still do not have a meeting date for our next Fire/EMS Caucus, however, the caucus co-chairs report that they are attempting to schedule the next meeting so that representatives from the Department of Administrative Services, the Office of Policy Management and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection can attend and discuss issues related to our Regional Fire Schools.

While we await the announcement of the Fire/EMS Caucus meeting, I continue to urge our membership to invite their respective legislators to join the caucus. If your representative or senator has attended caucus meetings in the past, please thank them and let them know we need their continued support. If your legislator is newly elected, please let him or her know that best way to help the Fire Service is to join the caucus.

The complete Legislative Update and the CSFA House Bill Status Report are attached below.

There are now dozens of bills directly or indirectly related to the Fire Service that we are tracking this legislative session. Several of these proposed bills concern issues that are priorities for CSFA and its member organizations this session (e.g., funding for Regional Fire Schools, bonding for Regional Fire School building projects, Post Traumatic Stress). I urge everyone to read my House Bill Status Report to review not only bills related to our priority issues but to also become familiar with the wide range of issues for which legislators have proposed legislation. At this point, a lot of bills only have a line or two of description and we should be on the lookout for changes and more information that will be added to bills in the coming weeks as some of them move forward.

Download the rest of the update and the House Bill Tracking below.

First, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend the meeting of the Fire EMS Caucus earlier this week. The focus of this second meeting this session was EMS issues and people who have given me feedback feel the meeting went well. Unfortunately, the meeting was not recorded on the Connecticut Network, so I do have a link to share if you missed it.

A date and time have not yet been set for the next meeting but I will announce that information as soon as it is available.

Please see the list of bills that are either directly or indirectly related to the Fire Service that have come out this week in the update and bill travking document below.

In accordance with state statute, fire service training is coordinated by the State Fire Administrator who is appointed by the Commission of Fire Prevention and Control. Fire Service training is progressive and is based on a four-step, professional development model that begins locally with recruitment of qualified applicants and culminates nationally with strategic programs and training for future executive leaders. All initial firefighter training generally begins either at a Regional Fire School for volunteer firefighters or the Connecticut Fire Academy [CFA] for career firefighters. Once initial training is completed, all firefighters return to their local fire departments for daily training, skills development and practice.

Connecticut’s nine regional fire schools serve as a vital bridge between the CFA and the local fire departments. Training is focused on ensuring competency by providing ongoing hands on skills development required by OSHA including: a) annual live fire training, b) vehicle and technical rescue, c) annual flammable liquid firefighting, d) Hazardous Materials response and e) supporting volunteer recruitment and retention. Regional fire schools serve as host sites for CFA firefighter, officer and instructor certification programs as well as serve as the practical skills evaluation locations for the CFA to conduct standardized testing. As fires and emergencies are not scheduled or planned, the regional fire schools keep responders and their equipment close to the communities they may be called to protect at a moments notice.

Everyone,
The session began this past Wednesday and proposed bills are already slowly emerging daily at the LOB. Representatives Pat Boyd and Ben McGorty, the co-chairs of the Fire/EMS Caucus, hope to be able to give us a date for the next caucus meeting by the end of next week. There are legislators who still don’t offices yet, and legislators are also still organizing their schedules with respect to committees and other responsibilities. I will post the next Fire/EMS Caucus meeting date and agenda in this weekly update as soon as it becomes available.

I have also begun for the 2019 legislative session to track proposed bills that might either directly or indirectly affect the Fire Service. Please download the complete Update below, as well as the House Bill Tracking, for bills that have come out this week, and bills we are watching: