Thread: Will Congress Kill Volunteer Fire Departments?

Will Congress Kill Volunteer Fire Departments?
by Robert B. Bluey

06/29/2010

Volunteer fire departments are about as American as apple pie. But under legislation moving quickly in Congress, this staple of American life could soon be a thing of the past.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D.-S.C.) wants to include the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act as part of the war supplemental coming before the House this week. The bill forces state and local governments to collectively bargain with police, firefighters and emergency workers. Its critics say it would compel volunteer firefighters to join unions, threatening the survival of America's nearly 26,000 volunteer fire departments.

The act would affect some states more than others. In North Carolina and Virginia, for example, collective bargaining is currently prohibited. Eighteen other states have limitations on bargaining. The legislation would likely force those governments to abandon merit-based promotions for public safety workers and shift instead to a collectively bargained seniority schedule, which unions prefer.

By including the legislation in the much larger supplemental appropriations bill, which funds the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Clyburn would avoid a contentious fight with conservatives and appease unions with a legislative victory. And because the Senate has already passed the supplemental, Republicans would have no opportunity to amend it. In other words, the only way to stop the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act is to keep it out of the supplemental.

The House previously approved the measure in 2007 with the support of 98 Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) tried and failed to attach it to the Senate version of the war supplemental in May. At least six Republican senators have signaled their support for the bill. They include Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Judd Gregg (N.H.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine).

None of the Senate Republican co-sponsors hail from states that limit collective bargaining. Johanns, normally a solid conservative with an American Conservative Union rating of 95%, told the Wall Street Journal: “For several years now, we’ve seen the benefit of a similar policy in Nebraska which prevents public employees from going on strike while helping to establish reasonable compensation ranges.â€

I lived in a tiny town. There is no way they could have afforded a full time fire staff.