Allows political subdivisions which contract to receive fire protection services from a special fire company or department to jointly establish a service award program with political subdivisions which contract to receive ambulance services from the same special fire company or department.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7554
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. MARTINS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to allowing poli-
tical subdivisions which contract to receive fire protection services
from a special fire company or department to jointly establish a
service award program with political subdivisions which contract to
receive ambulance services from the same special fire company or
department
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 10 of section 216-a of the general
2 municipal law, as added by chapter 550 of the laws of 1995, paragraph
3 (b) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 714 of the laws of 2006, and
4 subdivision 10 as renumbered by chapter 452 of the laws of 2004, are
5 amended to read as follows:
6 1. The political subdivisions which contract to receive fire
7 protection services, ambulance services, or both from a special fire
8 company or department may jointly establish a service award program for
9 the volunteer firefighters of such special fire company or department,
10 provided, however, that no such service award program shall be estab-
11 lished unless each and every political subdivision which contracts to
12 receive fire protection services, ambulance services, or both from the
13 special fire company or department joins in establishing the program.
14 2. A service award program for the volunteer firefighters of a special
15 fire company or department shall be jointly established by the political
16 subdivisions which contract to receive fire protection services, ambu-
17 lance services, or both from such fire company or department only if:
18 (a) the governing board of each and every such political subdivision
19 approves an agreement to jointly sponsor the program by an affirmative
20 vote of at least sixty percent of the governing board; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11736-01-5
S. 7554 2
1 (b) the eligible voters of each and every such political subdivision
2 separately approve a proposition authorizing their political subdivision
3 to jointly sponsor the program to be administered by the political
4 subdivision or the state of New York.
5 10. In the event that the governing board of a political subdivision
6 which is a party to an agreement to jointly sponsor a service award
7 program for the volunteer firefighters of a special fire company or
8 department ceases to contract to receive fire protection services, ambu-
9 lance services, or both from the special fire company or department, the
10 political subdivision shall cease to be a sponsor of the service award
11 program and shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the agreement in
12 accordance with the terms of the agreement without further action by the
13 governing board or voters of any political subdivision.
14 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
