The head of a countywide firefighters association agrees with the concept behind proposed legislation to help fire companies fill dwindling ranks.

State Senate Bill 299 would allow communities to waive the local earned income tax or offer tax credits for volunteer firefighters and EMTs."Something has to come to light to be appealing as an incentive to become or remain as an emergency responder," said Joseph "Blackie" Kufrovich, president of Schuylkill County Volunteer Firefighters Association.Senators Lisa Baker, R-20, and Sean Wiley, D-49, claim their proposal would allow municipalities to have the power to provide tax credits to active volunteer firefighters."If every local government in Pennsylvania had to convert to a paid firefighting force, it would cost an estimated $6 billion," Baker said."Giving firefighters a small break on their local taxes is a simple benefit that will compensate them in some small measure for their priceless life-saving work."The concept arose after a joint hearing about firefighter and EMT retention and recruitment issues held two years ago.According to state estimates, the number of volunteers has dropped from 300,000 to 50,000 in the past 30 years.Recently Kunkletown Fire Company in Monroe County reported that volunteers have dropped to the point where it had to ask neighboring companies for help fighting fires.Carbon County departments have also reported difficulty finding volunteers.Some say the prevalence of two-income families has been part of the reason for the membership decline.Kufrovich said he believes most firefighters would welcome the development.However, he cautioned that implementation would be the key."It has to be executed without bias," Kufrovich said, suggesting that fairness or equality could be an issue."There must also be some recognition for the older personnel who put in their time prior to establishing the program."Volunteer firefighters commit large chunks of time to training and active duty.As volunteers, they don't have the advantage of clocking overtime hours, or earning perks such as sick time, holiday pay, vacation time, pensions or retirement pay.The bill would include nonprofit EMS agencies, as well.If the bill were to become law, municipalities wouldn't be required to offer the tax credit and could dictate guidelines, such as the number of calls to which a volunteer must respond, answer and required training to qualify for the credit."Many Pennsylvanians do not realize that 96 percent of our firefighters are not paid for jumping out of bed in the middle of the night to fight a fire or run to the scene of an accident," Baker said in a prepared statement.