Rescue-worker death benefit advances
Legislation given initial approval gives McNamara family an annuity
By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]
BOSTON- Nearly two years after Lancaster call firefighter Martin H. McNamara died in an apartment fire in Clinton, the House yesterday approved a bill that would provide his wife and children with a $650,000 annuity, and mandate that all communities provide a minimum $500,000 death benefit to volunteer and call firefighters, emergency medical technicians and police who die in the line of duty.
Some 250 cities and towns in the state rely on call and volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel, but most have not had insurance for them, or provided for such benefits, in the past.
Under the bill passed in the House yesterday and expected to be before the Senate next Tuesday, cities and towns would be required to have provisions in place for such death benefits within one year.
Although the measure got unanimous support in the House, questions about the imposition of a new state mandate on cities and towns and possible opposition from full-time firefighter unions could result in some changes in the bill when it is reviewed in the Senate next week.
Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, said while he supports the annuity for the McNamara family in the House bill, the mandate on local communities may raise some concerns when the Senate Ways and Means Committee reviews the bill. Whether the mandate included in the House bill could be modified to include provisions for some communities to "opt out," he said, "remains to be seen."
Rep. James B. Eldridge, D-Acton, who said the McNamara family had gone for more than two years without adequate financial support, added that, "if this ever happens again, the towns and cities where those volunteer firefighters, police officers and EMS personnel currently work or live," will take care of their families.
Rep. Harold P. Naughton, D-Clinton, who is leaving the Legislature for six months' active reserve duty in Iraq this weekend, said yesterday he was relieved to see the House adopt the measure to correct what he called "a flaw" in the law before he left for foreign duty.
Mr. Naughton and Mr. Eldridge filed the amendment to include the annuity for the McNamara family in the legislation yesterday.
"It's been a long road for the call firefighters of the commonwealth and a very, very long road for the McNamara family," Mr. Naughton said when he urged House members to support the measure. If approved in the Senate and signed by the governor, the bill will provide the McNamara family, his wife Clare and three young daughters, with a $23,000 annual pension that will be paid for by the state.
The "McNamara" bill would require cities and towns to provide an annuity equal to at least two-thirds of the salary of the first-year full-time firefighter in surrounding towns or an annuity equal to a minimum of $500,000 indexed for inflation in future years.
"We will make sure that the families will be protected, like we did for the Worcester Six and the 343 in New York City," who died on 9-11, Mr. Naughton said.
In an emotional appeal, Mr. Naughton recounted that the final fire call responded to by Mr. McNamara, whose father, grandfather and great grandfather were all firefighters, was the third fire call he left home for on the night of Nov. 29, 2003.
Mr. Naughton said Mr. McNamara, "left his house and a warm bed, his children and a beautiful bride to go out to put his life at risk for the lives of others in a fire in a multifamily tenement.
"He didn't ask any questions, went down into the cellar, ahead of him a professional firefighter, behind him a professional firefighter. No one asked what his status was. The fire didn't distinguish the fact that he was a call firefighter," the lawmaker said, noting that full-time firefighters are all provided with death benefits that most of the state's 6,900 call firefighters have not been provided in the past.
Numerous lawmakers have taken up the cause of addressing what they saw as a gap in the law to protect volunteer emergency personnel, and the final version of the bill would extend death benefits as well to approximately 1,870 volunteer EMS personnel, 572 fire department-based volunteer EMS personnel and approximately 2,247 auxiliary and reserve police officers in the state.
Rep. Jay R. Kaufman, D-Lexington, co-chairman of the Public Service Committee, said cities and towns will have three options to comply if the bill becomes law, and that it would be only the third law to date that would not allow Proposition 2-1/2 exemptions for communities.
He said they could either provide an annuity, purchase an insurance policy, or purchase a group annuity policy to cover emergency volunteers. Lancaster town administrator Orlando Pacheco said since Mr. McNamara's death the town of 8,000, which has 23 call firefighters, has made provisions for a $300,000 benefit for any future line-of-duty call firefighter deaths at an annual cost of about $26,000. Lawmakers estimated a $500,000 benefit or annuity plan would cost a community about $40,000 per year.
Legislation given initial approval gives McNamara family an annuity
By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]
BOSTON- Nearly two years after Lancaster call firefighter Martin H. McNamara died in an apartment fire in Clinton, the House yesterday approved a bill that would provide his wife and children with a $650,000 annuity, and mandate that all communities provide a minimum $500,000 death benefit to volunteer and call firefighters, emergency medical technicians and police who die in the line of duty.
Some 250 cities and towns in the state rely on call and volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel, but most have not had insurance for them, or provided for such benefits, in the past.
Under the bill passed in the House yesterday and expected to be before the Senate next Tuesday, cities and towns would be required to have provisions in place for such death benefits within one year.
Although the measure got unanimous support in the House, questions about the imposition of a new state mandate on cities and towns and possible opposition from full-time firefighter unions could result in some changes in the bill when it is reviewed in the Senate next week.
Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, said while he supports the annuity for the McNamara family in the House bill, the mandate on local communities may raise some concerns when the Senate Ways and Means Committee reviews the bill. Whether the mandate included in the House bill could be modified to include provisions for some communities to "opt out," he said, "remains to be seen."
Rep. James B. Eldridge, D-Acton, who said the McNamara family had gone for more than two years without adequate financial support, added that, "if this ever happens again, the towns and cities where those volunteer firefighters, police officers and EMS personnel currently work or live," will take care of their families.
Rep. Harold P. Naughton, D-Clinton, who is leaving the Legislature for six months' active reserve duty in Iraq this weekend, said yesterday he was relieved to see the House adopt the measure to correct what he called "a flaw" in the law before he left for foreign duty.
Mr. Naughton and Mr. Eldridge filed the amendment to include the annuity for the McNamara family in the legislation yesterday.
"It's been a long road for the call firefighters of the commonwealth and a very, very long road for the McNamara family," Mr. Naughton said when he urged House members to support the measure. If approved in the Senate and signed by the governor, the bill will provide the McNamara family, his wife Clare and three young daughters, with a $23,000 annual pension that will be paid for by the state.
The "McNamara" bill would require cities and towns to provide an annuity equal to at least two-thirds of the salary of the first-year full-time firefighter in surrounding towns or an annuity equal to a minimum of $500,000 indexed for inflation in future years.
"We will make sure that the families will be protected, like we did for the Worcester Six and the 343 in New York City," who died on 9-11, Mr. Naughton said.
In an emotional appeal, Mr. Naughton recounted that the final fire call responded to by Mr. McNamara, whose father, grandfather and great grandfather were all firefighters, was the third fire call he left home for on the night of Nov. 29, 2003.
Mr. Naughton said Mr. McNamara, "left his house and a warm bed, his children and a beautiful bride to go out to put his life at risk for the lives of others in a fire in a multifamily tenement.
"He didn't ask any questions, went down into the cellar, ahead of him a professional firefighter, behind him a professional firefighter. No one asked what his status was. The fire didn't distinguish the fact that he was a call firefighter," the lawmaker said, noting that full-time firefighters are all provided with death benefits that most of the state's 6,900 call firefighters have not been provided in the past.
Numerous lawmakers have taken up the cause of addressing what they saw as a gap in the law to protect volunteer emergency personnel, and the final version of the bill would extend death benefits as well to approximately 1,870 volunteer EMS personnel, 572 fire department-based volunteer EMS personnel and approximately 2,247 auxiliary and reserve police officers in the state.
Rep. Jay R. Kaufman, D-Lexington, co-chairman of the Public Service Committee, said cities and towns will have three options to comply if the bill becomes law, and that it would be only the third law to date that would not allow Proposition 2-1/2 exemptions for communities.
He said they could either provide an annuity, purchase an insurance policy, or purchase a group annuity policy to cover emergency volunteers. Lancaster town administrator Orlando Pacheco said since Mr. McNamara's death the town of 8,000, which has 23 call firefighters, has made provisions for a $300,000 benefit for any future line-of-duty call firefighter deaths at an annual cost of about $26,000. Lawmakers estimated a $500,000 benefit or annuity plan would cost a community about $40,000 per year.