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October 26, 2011 - Submitted by Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee Special Offer to all New York Veterans in the Month of November To recognize and thank New York veterans for their honorable service and dedication to our country, the AARP Driver Safety Program is proud to offer a FREE classroom course (a $14 value) to ALL veterans - regardless of age - from November 1 through November 30, 2011. All military personnel - active duty, retired, guard, or reserve - are eligible to receive this nationwide promotion.* The AARP Driver Safety Program is the nation's first and largest course for drivers age 50 and older. When you take our course, you'll learn valuable defensive driving skills and get a refresher on the rules of the road. Plus, once you complete our classroom course, you could even save money on your car insurance.** Don't miss this special offer! Sign up for a classroom course today. To locate a classroom course near you, visit the Classroom Course Locator or call 1-888-227-7669. Keep up with all that AARP NY is doing for you - visit our website, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. October 05, 2011 - Submitted by Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee Update on Volunteer Firefighter Memorial Legislation Take Action! Earlier this year, the Fallen Firefighter Legislation (S.4655/A.5933)
passed both houses of the Legislature.. The bill requires the names of
volunteer firefighters that have died in the line of duty to be inscribed on
the NYS Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Albany . In order for the bill to
become law, it must be signed by the Governor. September 22, 2011 - Submitted by Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee Dear FASNY members and fellow firefighters, While the state legislature is out of session this time of year, Albany is still abuzz with activity, including the Governor calling for a large number of bills for action in recent weeks. With your help, FASNY and other advocacy groups in the Capital were able to have an important impact on at least one of these bills last week, leading to the Governor vetoing a proposed law that would have legalized certain low level fireworks, including sparklers that burn in excess of 1,000 degrees. This fall season is also the time for both our Association and our partners in other fire service organizations to begin to formulate our legislative agenda for the coming 2012 legislative session. Ahead of our upcoming annual Legislative Conference on November 5th and 6th, we encourage you to participate in your local and sectional organization efforts to gather proposals for consideration at the Legislative Conference. FASNY is dedicated to working with all the fire service organizations in our state to advance issues that benefit all of the volunteer firefighters, officers, chiefs and commissioners we represent. FASNY believes we can all accomplish much more working collectively and together – whether it be locally, in Albany , or in Washington – than any of us or our organizations might accomplish on our own. FASNY has been working with our partners in the other fire service organizations on some key issues over the last several years, and while a few are taking a little longer than any of us would like to move through the process in Albany, we all agree that the progress we have made and the long-term victories we hope to accomplish make all the efforts worthwhile. For example, FASNY has been involved with the issue of safety ropes from the very beginning, working closely with the other organizations to vigorously pursue changes to the ill-conceived ‘ropes law’. FASNY wants to be very clear – our support for important changes to this poorly crafted initial law on ropes has been constant, consistent and ongoing, and continues as we speak, and we can assure you it will continue into the future. As recently as this summer, FASNY’s legislative representatives have joined representatives of other stakeholder groups in the fire service to meet with staff of the Legislature, the Governor’s office, the State Department of Labor, OFPC and other agencies with roles in this issue. We will continue to be a staunch supporter of the fire service’s efforts on this issue. Another issue that is important to all volunteers and organizations across the state is 2% insurance funding, which provides help in offsetting the costs at our Home in Hudson and supports volunteers all across the state through their local department or benevolent or exempt firemen’s associations. The 2% funds total $50 million annually, with 90% going to Fire Companies throughout the state and the final 10% going to support about a third of the cost of running the FASNY Firemen’s Home in Hudson. This funding is very important to all of us, and we are monitoring conditions in Albany closely and will aggressively fight any efforts to alter the flow of these funds to the volunteers who protect our communities. Finally, FASNY believes strongly that all firefighters who die serving their communities should be honored by having their name inscribed on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Wall in Albany . For this reason, FASNY worked with Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg to propose legislation that would assure that any firefighter who receives the VFBL, PSOB or other benefits posthumously, would also have their name inscribed on the wall in the Capital. This legislation has finally passed both houses in Albany and we hope the Governor will do the right thing and sign it into law immediately. In the coming weeks, as the Governor calls for additional bills, which could include the Memorial bill and other items on our legislative agenda of importance to the volunteer fire service, FASNY may call upon you to add your voice to our calls for action in Albany . Please monitor these LEAP emails, the FASNY website and Facebook pages for more information on what you can do to help us help the volunteer fire service here in New York . September 22, 2011 - Submitted by Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee Fireworks Legislation Sent to Governor Take Action! In June of this year, legislation relating to the sale and possession of
fireworks (including sparklers) passed both houses of the NYS Legislature.
This bill has now been delivered to the Governor for his consideration. The
bill (S.4529-D/A.4362-C) allows sale of sparkling devices. FASNY strongly
opposes this legislation September 22, 2011
- Submitted by
Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee In June of this year, the Hazardous Materials Reimbursement bill on FASNY's Legislative Scorecard passed both houses of the NYS Legislature. This bill has now been delivered to the Governor for his consideration. The bill (S.5444/A.7672), sponsored by Senator Zeldin and Assemblyman Sweeney, permits reimbursement for costs associated with the clean up of hazardous materials spills. To view FASNY's memorandum in support of this bill, please follow this link. Please show your support for this legislation by sending the Governor's office an email via the Take Action button at the top of this email, or by calling 518-474-8390. September 18, 2011 - Submitted by Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee
September 17, 2011 - Submitted by Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee
August 23, 2011 - Submitted by Leon Randall - Orleans WNYVFA Trustee CONGRATULATIONS ARE EXTENDED TO MR. JAMES A. BURNS  At the FASNY Convention which was held in Alexandria Bay, NY Mr. James A. Burns was elected to fill the vacant position as the new 1st Vice President. This term will run until August of 2012, at that time Mr. Burns will run for the seat of President of FASNY. Mr. Burns fills the vacancy created by the untimely passing of Mr. Joseph Kelly earlier this year. Congratulations are extended to Jim, and I know he will do an outstanding job. Jim retired as the State of New York Fire Administrator a few years ago, thus is very familiar with the fire service. John Balling, Chairman |
