Relates to the reporting by the office of fire prevention and control

• Democratic6
• Republican2

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Robert Jackson says this is needed

This legislation requires the Office of Fire Prevention and Control(OFPC) to calculate the names and hours of all firefighters in New York State qualified for interior firefighting and for that informa- tion to be posted and updated annually on the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services website. Ensuring appropriate recordkeeping and public notification of which firefighters in New York State have the appropriate and type of training to qualify for interior firefighting is a critical and commonsense public safety measure. This legislation will create a very clear under- standing of the specific tasks and duties each firefighter is approved to handle at a fire or emergency situation. Very often, smaller fire districts, departments, and companies do not have the ability, space or personnel to appropriately retain an appro- priate recordkeeping of their firefighters. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has recognized the need for more transparency for fire protection costs and his office released a March 2017 report titled, Fire Protection in New York State: How Is It Provided in Your Communi- ty?, which noted: "Many of these entities are quite small and - as noted above - run by part-time and volunteer staff. While many of these organ- izations do a good job of maintaining financial records, there have been instances where weak internal controls or lack of governing board over- sight have led to negative outcomes." A statewide collection and reporting system will add to increased safety and transparency. OFPC is already required to issue an annual written report to the governor and legislature on firefighter training activ- ities and this legislation would simply add additional and critical information to the existing report.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.