Magna Carta News
Friday, April 02, 2004
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Mike W. Ray, Media Division Director
March 31, 2004
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A state House committee approved legislation Wednesday which would ensure that the thousands of volunteer firefighters in Oklahoma have workers compensation coverage.
Senate Bill 998 would authorize the State of Oklahoma to pay $320,338 to help finance the Volunteer Firefighter Group Insurance Pool established almost four years ago and administered by CompSource Oklahoma (formerly the State Insurance Fund). That sum would be supplemented with $169,000 the Legislature previously appropriated to the state Agriculture Department in House Bill 2007.
The $489,338 would 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 stood at 7,770 volunteer firefighters a month ago and is projected to grow to 8,713 by next summer.
The State of Oklahoma pays CompSource $55 to provide workers' comp insurance for each volunteer firefighter, because many of the departments cannot afford the expense.
SB 998 received a "do pass" recommendation Wednesday from the House Committee on Appropriations and Budget, and will be placed on the calendar for a vote by the full House. HB 2007, the General Appropriation bill, was signed by Governor Henry on March 22.
Rep. Randall Erwin, chairman of the House A&B Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services, noted that besides underwriting workers' comp insurance, the state also provides grants that help finance the operations of volunteer fire departments.
House Bill 2007, 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. Erwin, D-Nashoba, said 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.
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