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On Wednesday July 1st, the Governor signed the GENERAL BENEFITS EXTENDER which extends certain temporary benefits and supplementation programs including the Heart Bill, Cancer Bill, HAT Bill and ITHP.
While all incumbent employees would not have been affected by a veto, any new firefighters would not be covered by the same protections had the governor vetoed this important legislation.
There was considerable doubt as to whether he was going to sign it since he recently vetoed the Tier II Pension Extender. After intense lobbying by the UFA and other uniformed unions the Governor agreed to sign the extender. There is currently no solution to the Governor's veto of Tier II since the State Senate still has no solution to the leadership issue.
As soon as that is resolved we can work on restoring Tier II benefits to any future firefighters. Currently the Department has no plans to hire firefighters until next year. Further information can be found in the upcoming issue of Firelines.
Fraternally,
Stephen J. Cassidy
President
Joseph A. Miccio
Recording Secretary
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