For the first time in years, New York’s volunteer firefighters and EMS workers are set to see a real increase in the tax credit they receive for their service. Assemblyman John Mikulin (R,C-Bethpage) said this is a step in the right direction but also believes Albany had a chance to do far more than it did.

The recently passed legislation introduced by Assembly lawmakers would raise the tax credit from $200 to $800 for individuals and to $1,600 for joint filers if signed into law. The change represents a meaningful bump but not the more significant bump Mikulin supported. He co-sponsored an earlier proposal (A.01064) that would have increased the credit to $2,500, a substantially larger increase that would better compensate volunteers at a time when recruitment and retention continue to dwindle.

That proposal sat in the Ways and Means Committee for months without action. When a motion to discharge was filed to force the bill onto the floor for an up-or-down vote, Assembly lawmakers voted it down 83-52, blocking it from ever reaching the full chamber. The reaction to that decision was immediate, and the backlash was fierce from firefighters, EMS workers and lawmakers across the state. Only after the pressure mounted did Assembly lawmakers roll out their own scaled-back version of the same idea, after squashing the more beneficial bill.

Mikulin called the new credit a difference-maker for volunteers but said the Assembly should go further.

“Every volunteer firefighter I talk to on Long Island tells me the same thing. They love what they do, but a stronger tax credit would go a long way in showing them that the state has their back. The new tax credit will help, but going further is the right thing to do. A $2,500 credit would help bring new volunteers in, keep our current ones on the roster and make sure our communities stay protected for years to come.”