The dilemma of shrinking VFD numbers

 

Two of the most contentious battles during the 2008 session of the West Virginia Legislature, not too noticeable by the general pubic which had much of its attention directed to the squabble over the teachers’ pension program, involved concern about diminishing ranks of volunteer firefighters in this state.
In what was probably the more crucial of the two, efforts to provide workers’ compensation benefits for injuries that occur in the performance of those volunteer duties failed after heated floor speeches that got a lot of time on what may well be the last telecast on statewide pubic television of  live, final night legislative debate.
Earlier, lobbyists for the state’s larger cities, anxious to get a tax increase on insurance premiums in efforts to help these towns cover the unfunded liability in their individual pension plans for full time, paid firemen, had agreed that a small portion of the tax increase could be directed to help finance operations of the many volunteer fire departments.
But that compromise bill also died despite repeated attempts during the final few days to make it politically acceptable to all parties involved—much to the chagrin of legislators representing some of  the state’s largest paid fire departments, particularly Huntington and Charleston.
Volunteer firefighters obviously have political clout in the Legislature, particularly in the House of Delegates where among the bills offered during the 2008 session were those to allow volunteer firemen to participate in the state’s public employee insurance plan,  give them a state income tax exemption and even make them eligible for small pensions.
There are nearly 300 volunteer fire departments in West Virginia, according to membership records of the West Virginia Fire Men’s Association.  In Kanawha County alone, there are two dozen volunteer groups compared to only four paid municipal fire departments.
Against this backdrop, it is no wonder legislative leaders announced last week they have created a special interim study committee of House and Senate members to consider the growing problem of recruiting and retaining these valuable volunteers.
Former legislator Sam Love, who now lobbies for the volunteer firefighters, said the numbers of persons willing to join the ranks is shrinking and as those in the ranks get older, it has become a problem not only in this state but throughout the nation.  Many legislators agree they need to find a way to reverse that trend.
The biggest problem at this point seems to be the requirements that a volunteer fire department have a minimum of 20 members.  Love said there are many locations where the volunteer fire department is at risk of failing to meet that requirement.
Younger people who used to enjoy the social aspects of such an organization as a volunteer fire department now have so many other pursuits to compete for their attention even as the demand for the service provided by volunteer fire departments in rural areas increases.  It is a dilemma that may defy a legislative solution. . .
MEANWHILE, it was right after the 2004 Supreme Court race where Justice Brent Benjamin won his seat over incumbent Democrat Warren McGraw that the 2005 Legislature enacted a new law requiring disclosure in campaign ads of the names of the people supplying the money for a particular candidate.
Benjamin, of course, relied heavily on the money of coal company executive Don Blankenship, to win that election and the influence an individual willing to spend millions of dollars has been obvious ever since.
But last week an out-of-state advocacy group won a partial victory in its efforts to run political ads without disclosing the sources of its financial backing.  U. S. District Judge David A. Faber decided the Center for Individual Freedom, based in neighboring Virginia, doesn’t have to disclose the names of its contributors since the organization won’t be supporting a particular candidate for office.
The judge’s ruling still leaves intact the law that requires disclosure of the names of financial contributors when the advertising clearly supports a candidate for office so both sides got something. . .
FINALLY, there’s been a widespread belief that Gov. Joe Manchin’s daughter, Heather Bresch, received preferential treatment when she was retroactively granted a master’s degree at West Virginia University nearly ten years later.  And last week’s report by a five-person panel confirmed those suspicions.
But will it have any permanent affect on either the governor’s certain bid for re-election to a second four-year term as governor or her continued successful business career at Mylan, Inc., the pharmaceuticals giant headed by a benefactor of both her father and WVU?   Probably not.