Governor Reintroduces Emergency Response Initiative
Late last year, a united California fire service came together to lobby state lawmakers for passage of a measure designed to put more money directly into first responder services.
When the bill died in last minute, late-night maneuvering, we said we’d be back. And we are.
As part of his 2010-2011 budget, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is planning to re-introduce the CPF-backed Emergency Response Initiative.
This unique plan could funnel as much as half a billion dollars directly into state and local fire services … all designed to build up the state’s mutual aid system.
“California wrote the book on mutual aid, but that system is on a knife’s point thanks to the economy,” said CPF President Lou Paulson. “The ERI will put much-needed funding into mutual aid services, and also help protect our statewide fire response.”
The ERI would be funded by a surcharge of less than $50 a year on the average property insurance policy over a three-year period. Up to $150 million a year would go directly to local fire agencies to help pay for their mutual aid services. Additional money would go to continue modernizing CAL FIRE’s increasingly dated air and ground fleet.
Support for the ERI runs the fire service gamut … from CPF to CalChiefs to the League of Cities. CAL FIRE and Cal EMA also support, and new Cal EMA director Matthew Bettenhausen has made ERI a top priority.
“We’re all together, and we’re in it for the long haul,” said Paulson. “California is an all-risk state … we need an all-risk mutual aid system. That’s what the ERI is all about.”