IAFC Urges Passage of $3 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill

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The International Association of Fire Chiefs is urging federal lawmakers to pass the $3 trillion HEROES Act, a COVID-19 relief effort proposed by House Democrats.

Nearly $1 trillion of the bill would help state and local governments, according to the IAFC. The House is expected to vote on the bill Friday.

The IAFC outlined areas of the bill that affect fire and EMS agencies. The following are some of the provisions the group highlighted.

FEMA Provisions

• Assistance to Firefighters Grant: $500 million goes to the program for the purchase of PPE and related supplies, mental health evaluations, training and temporary infectious disease decontamination or sanitizing facilities and equipment.
• SAFER Grants: $500 million for the program.
• Emergency Management Performance Grants: $100 million for the program.

Tax Provisions

• Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act: Permanent extension of the act, which exempts any property tax benefit and up to $600 in other state and local benefits from federal taxation.
• Income Tax Deductions: First responders are permitted to deduct up to $500 from their personal income tax for expenditures on training tuition and uniforms. For 2020, first responders and COVID-19 front line employees can include supplies and equipment in their deductible expenses.
• State and Local Tax Deductions: Eliminates the limitation for tax years 2020 and 2021.

Other Provisions

• T-Band Spectrum: Repeal of the requirement to auction public safety spectrum between 470 and 512 MHz.
• PPE and Other Supplies: Would make the following supplies considered “scarce and critical materials” under the Defense Production Act: diagnostic tests, ventilators, COVID-19 pharmaceuticals and PPE, including N95 masks, face shields and masks.
• Public Safety Officers' Benefits: Clarification that public safety officers that die or become disabled from COVID-19 are eligible for the program.
• Heroes Fund: Creation of a $190 million grant program to allow employers of essential workers (including fire and EMS) to pay $13 per hour premium pay on top of regular wages. Essential workers are eligible for up to $10,000 for work performed between Jan. 27 until 60 days after the last day of the COVID–19 Public Health Emergency. If an essential worker develops symptoms of COVID-19 and dies, the worker’s family receives the remainder of the premium pay as a lump sum.
• PPE Supplies: Requires the President, along with the National Response Coordination Center of FEMA and other federal agencies, to submit a report to Congress that asseses the immediate PPE needs of critical infrastructure industries, including fire and emergency services.