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GSFA Members:
Fire service efforts on SB 319, the fire service consolidation bill, were met with much opposition and bias from House Insurance Committee Chairman Richard Smith today, along with other members of the House Insurance Committee. At this point, SB 319 is a stripped down version that does not accomplish our goals. The House Insurance Comm
ittee amendments only move the Arson Investigators and Public Safety Educators with the Fire Marshal and leave the rest of their functions with the Insurance Commissioner. The fire service no longer can support SB 319 in its current form.
Sen. Albers is attaching the agreed upon version of the fire service consolidation language to HB 149 which he is sponsoring in the Senate. At this time, we do not anticipate issues in the Senate. However, there will be a fight in the House to get this bill passed.
We must put our efforts behind supporting HB 149 at this time. This is state politi
cs. Things change at a moment's notice, and we are doing our best to keep you informed. Indications are that the Governor will sign this bill if we can get it passed as long as it remains the version that stakeholders have agreed upon. You can review that version
here
.
If and when HB 149 gets to the House floor for a vote, UNIFORMED FIREFIGHTERS WILL BE NEEDED AT THE CAPITOL TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT TO GET THIS PASSED!
We will keep you updated as HB 149 progresses.
Joey Hartley, President
Georgia State Firefighters Association
president@gsffa.org / 770.914.7774
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