Governor Hochul Awards $25 Million in New York State Funding for the Volunteer Fire Service
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:
Good morning, good morning. This is a place I feel right at home. You do not know this about me, but, for 30 years — 30 years ago, this year — I was elected to my town board. We had 10 volunteer fire companies in my town. Every one of them had an installation dinner every year. I was elected official for 14 years. Guess how many dinners I went to?
My husband loved when January rolled around because he knew he would get a nice meal on a Saturday night, and it was not from our home. I’ve been part of this community for such a long time, and have been so impressed and so proud of all of you who stand up and are willing to go through the rigors of training and all the times you have to come down here when you want to be home watching the football game, or going to your child’s soccer match or even having a good meal at home, and you are so dedicated, so every chance I get to come out and thank the members of our volunteer fire companies, I will show up. So, I want to give a round of applause to all of you.
I want to thank someone who’s so embedded in our fire services throughout the State of New York: Commissioner Jackie Bray, Head of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. You would not believe the scale of effort that she has to bring to this, whether it’s our cataclysmic storms we’ve been dealing with, the flooding, the tornadoes we’ve had — we’ve had so many weather challenges across the State of New York — but also, watching for threats, making sure that we protect election security, particularly, making sure that our institutions and our service and our counties are protected from cyber threats. So, it is extraordinary what she does. I want you to give her a round of applause. She is indispensable to us. Commissioner Jackie Bray.
And, I can tell from your applause, you appreciate your Senator — you should. Senator Michelle Hinchey has just risen up so quickly to be one of the most admired members of our Senate. She is such a strong voice for all of you in our State Capitol. You need to know that, you need to know that. She has all of us on speed dial when she wants something for her district, and this is important because she — and I’ll talk about this in a couple of minutes — has been a real champion of all of you. Let’s give her a round of applause as well.
Someone who needs no introduction in Greene County is a Former FASNY President and County Commissioner, Fire Coordinator John Farrell, and John, thank you not just your work — our paths overlapped often when you were in your former position as the statewide representative — but also for inspiring the next generation of young people to want to be involved, and you were telling me about your three grandchildren who are joining the ranks and are so excited about the possibility of stepping into grandpa’s shoes here, and doing what all of you’ve done.
So, that’s what I’ve seen throughout the State — it’s a generational passion, and so when I see one, two, three generations all together at the events, it feels so American to me. It feels so patriotic to me that people will step up and go through, as I said, so much effort and sacrifice to protect fellow citizens, whether they are neighbors they know, or strangers they’ll never meet, but hopefully they will get that thank you when they’ve done something extraordinary.
So, to John, thank you for your lifetime of service to this county, but also to the State of New York. Let’s give him a round of applause as well.
We have our Assemblymember Chris Tague is here as well. I want to thank him for his support in the Assembly and all the representation he does for his incredible work. Let’s give him a round of applause as well. Chris Tague is here. Don’t give me any applause at an event like this because this is all about you. This is my recognition that firefighters do not get the credit they deserve every single day and the risk that you’re willing to take — we don’t appreciate it until we’re the ones in crisis.
Like, the time my little girl was hit by a car when I was in a town board meeting, and she was fine, but it was my local first responders who let me know that she was going to be okay and they gave her compassion as if they were their own daughter.
That is real. You do not know the effect that had on me all these years later — that heart full of gratitude. Or, something happens — there’s a kitchen fire and it starts to get out of control and someone is just paralyzed, a senior citizen not sure what to do. Or, the weather events — as I mentioned, the destruction of homes and livelihoods around our State, particularly in the Hudson Valley and the Capital Region is absolutely unprecedented, and we just really have to steel ourselves for that reality. That is the new normal, but it doesn’t make it any better for that person whose kitchen is absolutely flooded and they may have to rebuild, and the precious pictures of babies and the wedding pictures are sitting in a puddle because Mother Nature destroyed everything they knew.
It is hard, and it’s hard for all of you as human beings to see that, and that’s something I don’t think we talk about enough — that you’re exposed, as sometimes humanity at its kind of greatest crisis, but also the depths of despair, and it has an effect on you when you go home at the end of the day. It truly must. Whether you’re first responders, firefighters, police officers — it takes a mental toll on all of you and I think it’s time we just start acknowledging that as well and finding how we can have more conversations because I know you’re all tough, you wouldn’t be sitting there if you weren’t tough guys and tough women who are willing to withstand the rigors that it takes to be sitting in your shoes, but you do it and you don’t talk about it.
But, just know that I understand that there’s sometimes images that you see, the cries for help, the experience of fellow human beings that can also have an effect on you as well, and I want to make sure we continue the conversations — we’ve done this for law enforcement. I do believe that we need to be talking about our fire services as well. But, all I know is when the bell goes off, you’re the ones who jump up and answer it — put yourselves in harm’s way without giving it a second thought, and, especially in a rural community like this, the car that goes off the road late at night, there’s not a lot of lights.
I represent some of the most rural parts of our entire State, and went to a lot of their fire companies as well. I know what it’s like. It’s scary in the dark. And, a mom with a little one in the backseat who went off the road or hit a patch of ice and was not sure what’s going to happen, and you knock on the door and you open it up and you don’t understand the effect that has. It’s like you do so much — truly the backbone of our communities.
And, I will say this. I know you don’t like the word hero. None of you want to be called a hero, because you have such humility — you know what you’re doing and you know why you’re doing it, and I would just want to continue doing my voice, my platform, my position to always elevate you and your needs. And, whether it’s physical needs of facilities, whether it’s support for training, just to lift the burden off of you and also increase the ranks, whether as John and I were talking about, getting programs for 14 year olds and up.
I can’t tell you how many members I know across the State who started in those eagle programs, trying to get young people feeling that they have a responsibility to more than just themselves. You grab a teenager and teach them what they need to know to be part of a family. It is a firefighting family. I know this. These bonds are tight. They go on for generations, but let a young person see the power of something outside themselves, and that’s how we raise more responsible adults. I think we should do everything we can to encourage more people to take advantage of these opportunities.
Now, here, this fire company is 136 years old. That’s a lot of generations that have come and gone. But, right now I’m focused on the next one. I want young people to feel that sense of social responsibility and willingness to step up like all of you did. And, I want to also, again, I mentioned Senator Hinchey, she has been indispensable in our effort to support firefighters and everything they need.
She introduced two bills to improve emergency care and support our EMS workers statewide, but especially in underserved communities, and that is often our rural communities, rural districts. And, I was really proud to sign them into law just last month. Again, thank you, Senator Hinchey.
They allow Medicaid to reimburse EMS workers for the care they provide — think about that — and expand the possibilities for administration of life saving blood transfusions. You’ve been extraordinary. I share your deep commitment to making sure we support all the firefighters, and I will continue working with you to achieve these objectives. Let’s give her one more round of applause.
I mentioned recruitment briefly, and I want to get back to that. We have 1,600 fully volunteer fire departments in the State of New York — 91,000 firefighters, which is extraordinary.
There’s a lot of responsibility we have to you as well. And I, as I mentioned, I’ve signed legislation to help first responders with mental health challenges. I also want to work with families who’ve lost a loved one because of cancer, contracted on the job. We’re focusing on that as well and making sure that becoming a firefighter is not a financial burden for you.
It should not be on your shoulders because we’re the beneficiaries of your time and your talents, and, so, why should you have to pay to do something unpaid that is in our interest? So, we’ve started to invest money, $10 million for a volunteer firefighter stipend program to help offset the cost of training, and we’ve already had over 100 trainees from across 50 fire departments. I want to expand this.
This fall, we’ve been meeting with more fire companies to talk about how we can invest even more but there’s more to do. And, it’s all about equipment — making sure you have the most up-to-date equipment, that it’s not from the 1970s, like a lot of my fire companies had. It’s very expensive to buy the new trucks, I know that for sure because I was there — my town was always trying to financially support them.
But, to help lift that financial burden, I’m proud to announce $25 million in investments from our new infrastructure and response equipment, which very nicely stands for “V-FIRE.”
It’s a new grant program, and this will support firefighters all across the State — large communities and small — and support facility improvements, and help you purchase that life saving essential equipment that is wildly expensive, that is too hard for individual companies to do.
Of the $25 million, there are a number of companies — represented here, who are beneficiaries of this — but we’re here at Leeds Hose Company No.1 because you’ll be receiving one million dollars to renovate this station.
This will help fund a new addition to make your building fully ADA compliant, number one. I think that’s important. Also, you have to replace your existing radio and siren tower. Again, no one knows how much I know about this because I was always asked, “We need a new pumper truck, we need this truck, we need this.” And it’s so expensive, but if you don’t have it, you’re jeopardizing people’s lives, and that’s why I know why it’s important to make these investments in all of you and what you’re doing here today.
So in all, we supported fire departments from 35 counties across the State, and we are fully committed to funding this again in the future. We just started, no one has done this before, and I know that when we come back for the ribbon cutting here in Greene County, and the pride that everyone feels.
I just want to tell you that we’re going to keep this up because firefighters should not have to wait for updated equipment, new PPE, fresh spaces for training programs, learning and for renovated spaces — you deserve better than that. You need to have the resources to match the caliber of the impact that you have on our communities, so that’s why I think you deserve more.
I want to thank you for all you do here and I want to thank every one of you for — especially those part of the generations. I also want to thank the Women’s Auxiliary. Anyone from the Women’s Auxiliary here today? Thank you. Yes, there you are. There you are, ladies. I have worked in many kitchens with all of you across the State where I come from. I’m the one who’s had to sometimes make the pancakes in the kitchen, pancake breakfast, put together the chicken barbecue dinners, the spaghetti dinners. So, I know you are the heart and soul of these organizations. So, again, another round of applause for the Women’s Auxiliary. Thank you.
So, you heard the good news. We’ll be presenting a very large fake check soon, but it’s got real money behind it. I will guarantee that. But, again, please know how grateful I am for every single one of you and for what you do. You are extraordinary people. You don’t hear that enough. And to your families, the ones that are sitting there, having to pick up the kids, or take them to the soccer game, or have that dinner alone, trick or treating, everything that has to happen — please convey to your families when you get home how grateful I am for them as well.
Thank you, thank you, thank you very much for all you do for us. Our volunteer firefighters.
Thank you.
October 25 2024 Albany, NY
Sources: NY.gov , Midtown Tribune news ,
Big New York news BigNY.com
