Posted on December 20, 2017
HARTFORD – State Representative Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) participated in the inaugural meeting of the Fire/EMS Legislative Caucus on Tuesday, December 19, 2017. The meeting was attended by both legislators, as well as first responders. The caucus was founded in order to help generate awareness about legislative initiatives that will ultimately help create better policies addressing public safety matters.
“Bills concerning public safety can get held up in the legislative process, at times, due to a lack of understanding the policy behind them. It is my sincere hope that by participating in this caucus, the legislature in general will be more inclined to take positive action on bills affecting our state’s Fire and EMS personnel,” explained Rep. Bolinsky.
In the previous legislative session, Bolinsky supported Public Act 17-175. This law requires an increased standard of maintaining fire apparatus, which is intended to provide first responders the best equipment and resources possible to effectively remedy an emergency situation.
Primarily, the discussion on Tuesday focused on funding. There are several public safety initiatives that are not adequately funded, such as the state’s fire training schools. According to Bolinsky, this is the type of scenario the caucus will analyze and produce recommendations to address.
The Fire/EMS caucus will meet on a monthly basis. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at the Legislative Office Building.
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