A 8224: 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 ________________________________________________________________________ 8224 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 5, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. NORBER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments 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 
 A. 8224 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.