ISFCA LEGISLATIVE ALERT

HIGHEST PRIORITY

 GO TO:  HB 436

  GO TO:  HB 437

To:                  All members

From:             ISFCA Executive Board

RE:                 Current Legislation

Date:              2-5-08

Dear Members:

Please be advised that ISFCA has learned of two bills that are pending in the Idaho Legislature that have been determined by the ISFCA Executive Board and Board of Directors to be adverse to Fire districts.  A full copy of each bill is attached to this e-mail, and it is recommended that all fire commissioners carefully review them.  We are aware that some fire commissioners do not have e-mail, so we encourage each fire commissioner who receives this e-mail to inquire from their fellow commissioners as to whether they have received a copy, and if not, to share your copy with them. We are also going to e-mail this correspondence to each fire district chief that we have an email address for and are asking the chiefs to be sure to make copies for each of their district’s fire commissioners.  Please know that ISFCA has scheduled an immediate meeting with House Speaker Lawrence Denney, to discuss ISFCA’s objections to the bills, and is also coordinating a more complete response to this proposed legislation with the Chiefs’ Association.

 HB 436, if enacted, would amend Idaho Code Section 41-253, which is the statute that empowers the Idaho State Fire Marshal (FM) to adopt the International Fire Code (IFC).  The bill calls for the IFC to be uniformly enforced on a countywide basis unless specific provisions of the IFC are exempted by a majority vote of the county commissioners of a county.  Accordingly, if this bill became law, it would then be up to each board of county commissioners to determine what modifications would be made to the IFC that could be enforced in their county.  ISFCA believes that this decision should rightfully be made by the Idaho State Fire Marshal and then the IFC version adopted by the FM should be “uniformly enforced” throughout the State.

 HB 437, if enacted, would further amend I.C. Section 437 to limit the FM’s code enforcement authority to all state-owned buildings and premises, and further provides that the IFC’s provisions will not be applied to or enforced in relation to property, other than state-owned buildings and premises, in any county of the State of Idaho, unless the board of county commissioners specifically adopts those provisions within the IFC that are to be applied and enforced within the county.  The bill further provides that the FM shall have no authority over premises and buildings outside of his new jurisdiction (state-owned buildings only).  The bill further provides that the FM shall no longer have jurisdiction over integrated fire sprinkler systems in the State of Idaho , except for state-owned premises and buildings.  Accordingly, if this bill was passed, the broad grant of authority that the Legislature has entrusted the FM’s office with since the creation of his office many decades ago, will be stripped to jurisdiction over only state-owned buildings!

 ISFCA’s Executive Board and Board of Directors believe that this proposed legislation would seriously undermine the fire prevention and enforcement authority of the FM and all fire districts and departments in Idaho .  Critical decisions regarding prevention and enforcement would be left to the political mechanisms and forces that are involved in decisions of the various boards of county commissioners in each county, which would result in piecemeal fire code enforcement throughout the State.  Further, these important code decisions would not be made by the experienced State FM and fire district and fire department fire marshals, chiefs and commissioners, but instead by county building department officials and county commissioners. ISFCA believes that this would result in setting back collective gains in state-wide fire code enforcement by the FM and various fire districts and fire departments, and would result in an unwise and unwarranted safety risk to the citizens of the State of Idaho .  The implications on fire insurance costs to the citizens of the State of Idaho cannot be calculated at this time.  Contrary to the argument that these proposed changes will improve local control, the reverse will likely occur.   Exemptions need to be at a city or Fire District level as they related to fire protection resources available in the local area.

 ISFCA’s Executive Board and Board of Directors is taking immediate action to try to work with Speaker Denney to halt this legislation and instead to set up a task force of various Idaho officials to meet on this matter throughout the year and to try to reach common ground on a plan that would not limit the FM’s and fire districts’ authority to carry out their joint mission and purpose of preventing the loss of life and property from fire.  ISFCA’s current president, Gary Rohwer, and ISFCA’s immediate past president, Ron Frazell, have arranged to meet with Speaker Denney immediately to determine whether these bills could be held over this year in an effort to reach a compromise through a mechanism such as the task force idea.  As many of you know, this concept has worked well this past year in the area of ambulance regulation and authority.  We see no reason why the same type of discussions, involving elected officials and administrators throughout Idaho , could not achieve similar success in the area of fire code enforcement.

 WHAT CAN YOU DO…   Please click on the following link to the Idaho Legislature’s “Contact Legislators” web page and send an email to Speaker Denney letting him know of your district’s opposition to this bill, or give his office a call to do so.  When you right click on the link, click “open hyperlink” and then  locate Speaker Denney’s contact information by typing in his last name in the box and hitting enter.  If you then click on his name in blue text, his e-mail page comes up and you can easily send him a short e-mail message.  Please be sure to keep your message short and professional. 

 Then, do the same thing for each of your state representatives in your geographical area.

 http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/howtocontactlegislators.htm

ISFCA’s Executive Board and Board of Directors will keep you updated on this matter.  However, you may wish to e-mail your thoughts and suggestions to us at office@isfca.org. 

Thank you.

Gary Rowher

President, ISFCA

 GO TO:  HB 436

 GO TO:  HB 437