Oklahoma's volunteer firefighters have gained workers' compensation coverage through legislation signed by Gov. Brad Henry.
Coverage is provided by Senate Bill 998, which sailed through the legislature unopposed. SB 998 allocates $320,338 to help finance the Volunteer Firefighter Group Insurance Pool, established almost four years ago. The fund is administered by CompSource Oklahoma (formerly the State Insurance Fund). That sum will be supplemented with $169,000 the Legislature previously appropriated to the state Agriculture Department in House Bill 2007.
The $489,338 will be used to secure workers' compensation insurance for Oklahoma's volunteer firefighters for policy year 2004-05. According to CompSource President Terry McCullar, the number of enrollees continues to increase. The count, which stood at 7,770 volunteer firefighters earlier this year, is projected to grow to 8,713 by next summer.
The State of Oklahoma pays CompSource $55 annually for each volunteer firefighter provided with workers' comp insurance. The state picks up the tab because many of the departments cannot afford the expense, Rep. Randall Erwin, D-Nashoba, explained.
Besides underwriting workers' comp insurance, the state also provides grants that help finance the operations of volunteer fire departments.
The General Appropriation bill included a $2 million allocation to the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, which coordinates rural fire protection activities in Oklahoma through its Forestry Services Division. That funding will enable the Agriculture Department to extend operational grants of nearly $2,400 to each of Oklahoma's 843 volunteer fire departments for FY 2004-05.
