Quincy Reporter

Illinois Sen. Neil Anderson took to Facebook on June 30 to share an update on bills he had sponsored, including Senate Bill 1750 to support Illinois first responders and emergency medical technicians with paid training.

"Today, several bills I passed this past spring were signed into law," Anderson wrote in the post, in which he shared a link to a news release on his official website on SB 1750. The bill "requires the board of trustees of a fire protection district to reimburse the mandatory training expenses of EMTs, EMT-Is, A-EMTs, or paramedics who are employed by or under contract with the district. The mandatory training expenses will be covered by a state-funded program," the news release on his website said. 

“Our volunteer departments are equally as important as a full-time fire department," Anderson said. "When there is an emergency, response times are critical, and if there is nobody to fill the seats on a fire apparatus, then it’s a huge public safety concern. I feel this new law is a good first step in either recruiting new volunteer emergency workers or providing a small incentive to the ones who are already willingly answering the call."

Screenshot of Sen. Neil Anderson's Facebook post | Sen. Neil Anderson's Facebook page

SB 1750, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, requires the board of trustees of a fire protection district to reimburse EMTs, EMT-Is, A-EMTs or paramedics who are employed by the district for their training expenses. Halpin first filed SB 1750 on Feb. 9, and it moved to the House on March 30. It was approved and signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 30. The bill is now Public Act 103-0226, according to Illinois Legislative Assembly data on the bill.

"EMTs and volunteer firefighters are an important part of what keeps our communities safe. This was a concerted effort to give local fire protection districts additional tools that allow them to recruit and retain emergency service workers," Halpin said in the release.

Anderson said that he and Sen. Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island) also successfully pushed for a personal tax credit of up to $500 for the first $5,000 worth of free work performed by volunteer emergency workers per year. Their provision was included in SB 1963, a 558-page omnibus tax bill signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 7. The tax credit, which is retroactive to emergency work performed starting January 1 of this year, is provided on a first-come, first-served basis; the state may not give more than $5 million in total credits per year. The details start on page 484 of the bill.

Anderson, himself a firefighter/paramedic in Moline, began serving District 47 in 2015. The district includes part of all of Adams, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox, Mason, McDonough, Menard, Mercer, Peoria, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazwell, and Warren counties, his biography says.