BILL NUMBER: S7000
SPONSOR: ROLISON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring the
forfeiture of benefits to be paid pursuant to a service awards program
to volunteer firefighters who have been convicted of certain crimes
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires the forfeiture of benefits to be paid pursuant to a service
awards program to volunteer firefighters who have been convicted of
certain crimes
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends section 217 of the general municipal law to state teat
felonies committed against a volunteer fire department, volunteer fire
company, fire district, or fire protection district shall not be eligi-
ble to receive benefits from a service award program.
Section 2: States the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2016, the treasurer of the volunteer fire department in Mahopac,
Michael Klein, was convicted of embezzling nearly 6 million dollars from
the fire department. When he is released from prison, Klein will still
be eligible to collect his LOSAP (length of service awards program) from
the same fire department that he stole from. Currently, the only crime
that makes one ineligible to collect their service award is arson. This
bill will expand the list of disqualifiers to include any crime commit-
ted against a volunteer fire department.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.8976
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the state.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

Statutes affected:
S7000: 217 general municipal law