Jun. 17, 2020
HARRISBURG – Rep. Torren Ecker’s (R-Adams/Cumberland) legislation to make essential updates to junior firefighter regulations in Pennsylvania is now law.
“On behalf of the firefighting community, I want to thank the governor for signing
House Bill 1522 into law. This measure will modernize the junior firefighter requirements in the Commonwealth and will help attract more young people to serving their communities as firefighters,” Ecker said.
Act 22 of 2020 removes a requirement that junior firefighters take Department of Conservation and Natural Resources training on how to battle wildfires. Under federal child safety regulations, junior firefighters are not allowed to battle fires, making the training unneeded for the roles junior firefighters play. Though the wildfire training is no longer a state requirement, fire companies that see the benefit of it are still permitted to offer it to junior firefighters.
“This training may be valuable for fire companies insome parts of the state, but it is not needed for all fire departments, especially those in urban and suburban areas,” Ecker said. “Pennsylvania’s landscape and demographics have changed drastically since the wildfire training requirement was put in place.”
This is the first bill the first-term representative sponsored that became law.
Senate Bill 275, companion legislation to Ecker’s
House Bill 854, to increase the possible criminal penalties for strangulation convictions and to permit judges to consider strangulation convictions in child custody proceedings, was also signed into law. It is now
Act 32 of 2020.
“I want to thank Sen. Judy Ward for her work on this legislation to further protect victims of domestic violence,” Ecker said. “At the end of the day, this is a good piece of legislation and I am hopeful that it will better assist those who have unfortunately suffered from these situations.”
Representative Torren Ecker
193rd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Greg Gross
717.260.6374
ggross@pahousegop.com
RepEcker.com /
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