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Volunteer Firefighters Shortage Solution: VFD-Funding.com is announcing a congressional lobbying initiative, to give a federal income tax credit of $1,000 to active volunteer firefighters, a $2,500 federal college grant/scholarship to active volunteer firefighters to pay for tuition and books, and a $1,000 tax credit to employers, who permit their active volunteer firefighters to answer alarms during work hours. The purpose of this tax credit proposal is to help volunteer fire departments to recruit/retain active volunteer firefighters, with emphasis to younger firefighters, to join the long-standing tradition of public service and safety. Every volunteer fire department is now experiencing a dangerous and alarming shortage of trained and experienced active volunteer firefighters. Volunteer firefighters are the last vestige of the "minutemen", the initial founders and defenders of the United States, who would answer an alarm on a moments notice, to go and put their lives on the line in some form of fire fight. In addition to the recruitment and retention issues due to lower numbers of new volunteers, many volunteer fire departments are now also experiencing added shortages, because most active and experienced firefighters are good citizens, who are also members of the National Guard, who have been deployed to Iraq and elsewhere. Also adding to this critical shortage is the inability to encourage younger persons to join their local volunteer fire department. This shortage of volunteer firefighters also has been recently reported in several newspapers, such as USA Today, and in many state and federal studies, yet nobody has yet attempted to develop a remedial plan, except for this federal tax credit initiative now launched by VFD-Funding. The mantras being used by VFD-Funding to encourage and lobby the U.S. congress to act on this income tax credit proposal are: "Homeland Security Begins at Home" and "Without Volunteer Firefighters, Homeland Security Would Go Up in Smoke". Will Griffin, President and owner of the VFD-Funding Group, has undertaken this endeavor and is spending his own personal money and political capital to lobby for this imperative legislative change, because in addition to being an active volunteer firefighter, he has been an administrative consultant and he has been very politically active for over 30 years at the local, state and federal levels. "This will not only help to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters, with emphasis to younger firefighters, but that because something like this hasn't been done a long time ago, we believe all to agree for this to be absurd, if not obscene." Griffin emphatically asserts. VFD-Funding is also adding to their argument that private and civilian employees of private companies, such as Halliburton, working to rebuild Iraq, enjoy doing so for little or no federal income taxes, because their employment is considered high risk and hazardous duty. Griffin and VFD-Funding believes if this is true for employees of private companies in Iraq, then what would you classify an extremely dangerous job like being a volunteer firefighter? Griffin also points out that: "Volunteer firefighters are a prime example that the term "public servant" isn't a job title...it is a job description". Under Griffin's proposal and plan, to qualify for the income tax credit, a person must be an "active" volunteer firefighter meeting high standards of response percentages, drills, meetings, fund-raising activities, and have the minimum required certifications by their department and their state, while also attending at least two (2) fire schools per year. Employers would qualify if they permit their active volunteer firefighters to leave work for actual emergencies and continue to pay them their wages, while they are serving the public. VFDs would be required to permit their members to call in on alarms from work, to confirm the emergency and to give them response credit, so that their active members can maintain their response percentages for their federal income tax credit eligibility. VFD-Funding has already contacted several members of congress (both house and senate), volunteer fire departments, firefighters, and firefighter/EMS national and state level organizations; given that VFD-Funding is looking to get their input and support on this federal tax credit initiative proposal. VFD-Funding is also seeking input from active and life member volunteer firefighters to show congress that this is a broadly supported and grassroots initiative, that is long overdue and imperatively needed to recruit/retain volunteer firefighters. For more information and to support VFD-Funding to lobby congress to create this federal income tax credit for active volunteer firefighters and their employers, visit http://VFD-Funding.com. |
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