Quincy Reporter

As Senate Bill (SB) 2253 is filed in the Senate, lawmakers have begun speaking out in favor of the bill's passage. SB2253 would amend the Illinois Income Tax Act to provide $500 tax credit to any individual who served as a volunteer emergency worker for at least 9 months during the taxable year and did not receive compensation for his or her services of more than $10,000.

In a May 8 Facebook post, Sen. Neil Anderson (R-IL) shared a visit with the Illinois Firefighter's Association Foundation, speaking on the bill. 

"Thank you to the Illinois Firefighter's Association Foundation for allowing me to speak in support of SB 2253 – a bill that would provide a $500 tax credit for volunteer fire fighters across our state. Also, a special thank you to every first responder and fire department that responded to the massive pileup on Interstate 55 last week," Anderson wrote in his post.

Anderson has served the 47th District since 2015. The district now includes portions and/or all of Adams, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox, Mason, McDonough, Menard, Mercer, Peoria, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazwell and Warren Counties. When he's not serving the residents of the 47th District as a legislator in Springfield, Anderson is a firefighter/paramedic in Moline.      

The bill, proposed by Sen. Christopher Belt (D-IL) on Feb. 10, has since picked up Senate co-sponsors, but was re-referred to the Senate Assignment Committee on March 10.   

WQAD reported on a similar bill in the Senate last year, but there's no indication in the reporting that then Senate Bill 3027 progressed. At that time, Colona Fire Chief John Swan told WQAD he would be lucky if two-three firefighters were available to respond to calls during the day and that the department had only received two applications for open positions after placing signs around town. Because of this, the Illinois Firefighters Association held a press conference with Illinois lawmakers to discuss the bill, which would have gone into effect in 2023 if passed, WQAD reports.

According to ILGA,.gov, Sen. Christopher Belt also proposed 2022's SB 3027, and the last action was Sine Die, on Jan. 10, 2023. That bill appears to be identical to Senate Bill 2253.