Volunteer Firefighters Are Being Given Income Security

Governor Snyder is signing a bipartisan bill that protects Michigan's volunteer firefighters into law. State Representative Al Pscholka's House bill prevents the small compensation volunteer firefighters receive from counting as income and threatening unemployment benefits for unemployed volunteers. Pscholka said "it's simply the right thing to do for these heroic residents." Currently, unemployed firefighters experience reduced benefits, which acts as a penalty for their service. In addition, the bill will help make it easy for communities recruit on-call firefighters in areas that rely on their service.