Legislative season
Greetings fellow Firefighters hope everyone is healthy and doing well in your family and your communities. Happy New Year! It’s time to reflect on the past and make goals for the next year to dive into the future.
We are stepping into the season of legislation, so I must ask that you touch base with your area representatives Thanking them for supporting us with the Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP). It has been a learning process as we register for the program, I want to Thank Cindy our lobbyist for answering all questions or getting the answer from the state. They have adjusted the deadline moving it out to February 28, 2026, so keep asking the questions and get your applications in, as this program provides a retirement for our volunteers.
Another opportunity that the state could help us with, if we can get their support, is the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) membership that provides our volunteers with a $10,000 accidental death and dismemberment insurance policy, Responder Helpline, Free training, and Volunteer Voices online discussion forum. I want to reiterate that we NEED YOUR VOICES to talk with your representatives to get their attention on this program! On January 29th 2026 we invite all of you to come to the State Capital for the chili cookoff where you can get in front of and talk directly to your state representatives. Please try to be there at 11am as this is truly an opportunity to show support.
As I close, if you have any questions on any programs, please give one of the board members a call and we will answer your questions. I encourage you to talk and listen to each other as we need to stay strong physically and mentally to provide outstanding service to protect our communities. As we are a brotherhood and sisterhood of the fire service, so we must support each other to stay strong. So, take care of each other, if you have a concern for someone point it out to your leadership, as we are strongest when we take care of each other.
Kent Brix, IFA President