AFFI President Pat Devaney today told House Pension Committee members that firefighters are united behind their public employee colleagues in the fight to halt the attack on public pensions.

Click Below for audio

www.affi-iaff.org/items/DevaneyTestimonySB512.mp3

Action Alert: CALL YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE

Tell Your Representative to Vote YES on the LATOURETTE and DAVID PRICE AMENDMENTS

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider legislation that will cut funding for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act) grant programs by more than 50 percent, as well as eliminate the SAFER waivers that have allowed fire departments to prevent layoffs and bring back laid-off fire fighters.

Friends of the IAFF have stepped up to try and remedy the situation, but they need your support to succeed!

Next week, the House will consider two important amendments to the Fiscal Year 2012 Homeland Security Appropriations bill offered by Representatives Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and David Price (D-NC). The IAFF needs you to call your U.S. representative and ask him or her to vote in favor of both amendments:

•    Support the LATOURETTE amendment to restore funding for SAFER and FIRE grant programs
•    Support the DAVID PRICE amendment to restore the SAFER waivers

Act TODAY! Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask your member of Congress to vote FOR the LaTourette and David Price amendments.

You can also email your representative with your message to support the LaTourette and David Price amendments.

Similar amendments were offered earlier this year to address legislation decimating the Fiscal Year 2011 grants. We were ultimately successful in large part due to your efforts. To see how your representative voted on these previous amendments, click here and here.  

If the LaTourette and David Price amendments fail, SAFER and FIRE grants will be significantly diminished, and grants will no longer be available to prevent layoffs or rehire laid-off fire fighters.

Call the Capitol Switchboard NOW at (202) 224-3121 and tell your U.S. Representative to reject cuts to public safety and VOTE FOR the LaTourette and David Price amendments 

Brothers and Sisters:
Senate Bill 512 now has been amended to include pension reform language from Rep Cross and is scheduled for a hearing in the House Personnel and Pensions Committee tomorrow, Thursday, May 26th at 9 a.m. If it passes out of committee it could be voted on by the full House the same day.
If you called before, call again. Make two calls - one to your representative, another to your senator. Until we are certain public sector pensions are safe we cannot stop working.
Again, Article 4 (Downstate Firefighter Pension) and Article 7 (IMRF) are not included in the most recent draft of this legislation, despite attempts by some to include us.
If this legislation passes it will likely offer state employees three choices for participation in the plans going forward (all benefits earned to date would be unaffected):
Option 1: Stay in the current tier 1 plan but pay significantly higher contribution, or
Option 2: Go into a tier 2 plan for new hires that puts retirement age at 67, lowers benefits and decimates annual Cost Of Living Adjustments (COLA), or 

Option 3: Go into a 401k defined contribution plan that freezes current pension credits and relies on the volatile stock market.
It is imperative that you personally contact the legislators in your district as soon as possible. We need every member to participate and to encourage their friends and family to contact lawmakers as well.  Please call 888-412-6570 to be immediately connected to your lawmakers by phone or go online to “click to call.”
When you call your legislator please tell them:
“Please vote NO on SB 512 or any legislation that reduces benefits or increases contributions for public employees in Illinois”
We encourage you to also:
Email your legislators using a pre-written message. Enter your information under the “Sign Up Today” option at the We Are One Illinois website and it will bring you right to your specific legislators.
Sign up for text alerts at www.weareoneillinois.com
Follow the AFFI Website, Facebook and Twitter pages to receive the latest information
While we believe this is a winnable fight, we need as many of our members, our friends, our family members, our neighbors and our FB friends to contact their lawmakers to urge them to vote "NO" on SB 512, the pension benefit reduction legislation.
Our members' life savings are on the line and we do not have time to waste.
If you have questions, please click here to email the AFFI Office.  Thank you for your continued support and rapid response.
  

Another week has passed in Springfield and the AFFI has put two more bills on the Governor’s desk for his signature. 

HB 1709 sponsored in the Senate by Senator Kotowski passed the Senate floor on Friday. The bill codifies current practice by the Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) to charge entities when offering training such as assessor certification, etc…. The JLMC consists of two representatives of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association and two representatives of the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois.

HB 3550 sponsored by Senator Maloney in the Senate chamber passed the floor of the Senate earlier in the week. Within the Fire Department Promotion Act, if a municipality or fire district offers a review session upon completion of the exam, the cost of the review must be absorbed by the employer. This was a 2010 Convention Resolution brought forward by the Alsip Firefighters, among others.

These two bills, along with SB 1278 (Dependent Trust) and HB 1427 (Worker Comp Population) now await the Governor’s signature.

In addition to those 4 bills, the AFFI has been working with the municipal groups on HB 1576 (Hiring Bill) sponsored by Senator Koehler in the Senate. You will recall that this bill was championed by Rep. Dugan in the House where it passed with 76 votes. The bill creates a standardized hiring process for full time fire departments in the state of Illinois. We have agreed to two more amendments in the Senate and plan to work a roll call to ensure its passage in the next week or so.

 As all of you should be aware, the AFFI is a large part of the coalition of public employee unions that have been working around the clock to defeat any pension legislation detrimental to current employees. Although we have been successful in preventing the inclusion of firefighters in proposals offered to date, the AFFI is standing strong with other public employees to protect public employee pensions in Illinois. Thanks in large part to your phone calls and emails, legislators advocating for pension benefit reductions have been unable to garner enough support to introduce the proposal in committee and move it to the House floor. With that said, the House Personnel and Pension Committee is scheduled to convene on May 24, 25, 26, and 27. We very well may need you to again contact your legislators and communicate that you are opposed to any pension reduction for public employees. Please ensure every one of your brothers and sisters has logged into www.weareoneillinois.org and contacted their legislators. The website is very simple to navigate and essentially does everything for you. It should take less than 2 minutes to do your part and help us defeat these attacks on our pensions.

Along with pension legislation, the AFFI has been actively involved in worker compensation reform. We anticipate some type of reform proposal to be released this week. The trial lawyers, medical society, labor and business all have been working this issue for the last several months. We will keep you abreast of any legislation involving worker comp reform.

There are a number of big issues “out there” to be resolved including the new legislative map, and of course the state budget. In regards to the budget, the AFFI participated in a press conference last week with police labor groups as well as various mayors and village presidents expressing opposition to any cuts to the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF). Some elected officials and policy groups have proposed LGDF reductions to help balance the state budget. Although these are only proposals at this time, the AFFI is working to educate elected officials about the devastating impact any reduction would have on local government budgets and the resulting cuts to public safety.

For those of you who engaged in the political process last week by contacting your legislators in regards to pension reductions, WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH!! The public employee unions in Illinois have come together as one in an unprecedented fashion. To say “Together We Are Stronger” is a huge understatement. As the General Assembly winds down we will continue to stand together. Please be on the lookout for any breaking news or immediate action requests in the next 10 days. The AFFI will blast email, twitter, and facebook all pertinent information. It is imperative that you relay the messages to all of your members. If it means they get it two or three times, so be it. It is that important. 

The Senate convenes at 4pm today (Sunday) and both chambers plan to be in everyday until May 31.

Please let you AFFI Legislative Representative know if you have questions or concerns.

Thank you again for your efforts thus far.

Eddy, Richard, Chuck, & Pat    

Lake Villa fire and rescue services have been consolidated, a move that will save Lake Fire Protection District taxpayers about $400,000 this year, officials say.

The consolidation was first discussed in 2006, but was shelved after the first-year cost of $3.3 million for combined services was deemed too high by the three-member fire district board.

The new contract with the Lake Villa Fire Department includes both emergency medical services and fire protection services. The new contract for $2,420,581 calls for the same level of service that was provided under separate contracts with the Lake Villa Fire Department and Lake Villa Rescue Squad for a combined total of $2,873,000.

The new contract includes a plan to add more paid on-premise staffing in the future at each station, increasing the contract cost to $2.9 million, said district Treasurer Lori Heitman. The consolidation became official May 1.

“Within the next year, we expect to add more firefighters to staff all three stations 24/7,” said district President James Stout. Staff already is or will be cross-trained to answer both fire and rescue calls.

The district serves all Lake Villa Township taxpayers, including residents in Lake Villa and Lindenhurst. Stout represents Lindenhurst, Heitman represents Lake Villa and Romie Johnson, board secretary, represents Lake Villa Township on the fire district board.

Stout said the ambulance services are already staffed 24/7, but the fire department has only daytime on-premise firefighters with the balance of the week provided by paid on-call firefighters.

The combined services will initially save the district some money, but adding additional on-premise firefighters has been the long-term goal for years and was impetus for combining the departments, said Stout.

“It is a financial balancing act that will allow the district to have affordable round-the-clock staff certified to provide both fire and emergency medical services at all three stations,” she said.

About 90 percent of the 72 firefighters with the Lake Villa Fire Department are cross-trained to provide fire and rescue services. The consolidated crew is under Fire Chief Frank Slazes. Rescue Squad Chief J.R. Halek has stepped down from his position because it has been eliminated.

The fire district owns Station 3 at 1911 Grass Lake Road in Lindenhurst and Station 2, at 910 Grand Ave., Lake Villa, across from the library. Station 1 in downtown Lake Villa is owned by the Lake Villa Fire Department. There are firetrucks and ambulances at all three stations.

With a layoff deadline pending on Saturday for more than 30 municipal workers, negotiations continued this week between city officials and employee labor unions seeking concessions designed to save jobs.

On Thursday, one sign of progress was announced when International Association of Firefighters Local 473 president Brad Buntrock reported that a tentative agreement has been reached that, if approved by the City Council and union membership, would spare 13 firefighters served last month with layoff notices.

Buntrock added that “it’s our understanding that layoffs would be postponed” past Saturday’s deadline for firefighters until the pact is approved by both sides. The council will meet Monday night, and Buntrock said Local 473 will conduct a ratification meeting toward the end of the month.

Key components of the tentative pact call for firefighters to have no salary increases for the next two years, and for the city to accept a federal grant that would fund five employee positions, also over the next two years. Buntrock said there is no commitment by the city to fund those positions after the grant money runs out.

As for other bargaining committees, Mayor Robert Sabonjian said Thursday that there have been “ongoing negotiations, (and) we’re making progress with some unions, and with some, we’re not.”

“Nothing has changed” regarding the city’s financial position, Sabonjian added. “There’s no pot of gold, there’s nothing that’s going to bring in more revenue, (so) we’re trying to get concessions.”

According to Sabonjian, the council’s labor-relations committee was scheduled to meet late Thursday afternoon to discuss the status of contract negotiations.

After the council voted 7-2 in late December to approve a zero-growth property tax levy, the city released a proposed budget in March for the 2011-12 fiscal year, which began on May 1. The plan featured an $8.7 million deficit, listing $108.4 million in expenses against $99.7 million in revenue.

Included in that proposal was an overview that reported a head-count reduction of 88 employees. The city later clarified that the total included more than 30 vacant positions that would remain unfilled following attrition over the past few years.

The actual number of proposed layoffs included not only the 13 firefighters but 13 police patrol officers, three custodians, two maintenance workers, two police auxiliary officers and one laborer.

Ten other employees would be demoted to a lower rank and receive a lower salary, including four fire lieutenants, three police sergeants, two fire captains and one police lieutenant.

Late last month and again at the May 2 council meeting, aldermen declined to vote on a spending plan for the current fiscal year, choosing instead to authorize necessary expenditures until a final budget is passed. According to corporation counsel Newton Finn, an appropriations ordinance must be in place by the end of July.

Click on the link below for some good information including a meal plan designed for Fire Fighters.

http://www.iaff.org/hs/fts/ftsdefault.asp