Legislative Day: A letter from Pres. Holzheimer

February 7, 2023

The South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association’s Legislative Day is on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, on the grounds of the South Carolina State House under the big white tent between the Blatt and Gressette Buildings. As President of the Association and a deputy fire chief, I cannot stress enough how important it is to build good, strong relationships with your legislators.

Legislative Day is your opportunity to start or strengthen that relationship. The setting provides an opportunity for you to meet our state’s lawmakers while you’re surrounded by likeminded fire service professionals with common goals. It can be intimidating to speak with Senators and House members, but the Association’s goal on Legislative Day is to make you and your firefighters comfortable, knowledgeable, and eager to talk with our lawmakers.

Escorts will meet with Association staff at 10 a.m. and be given note cards with fire service related talking points to speak with your legislator on. Afterwards, escorts will head up to the State House where they will request their legislators’ presence at the luncheon. Once the legislator has come out of session, the escort will walk them down to the Association’s tent where the escort and legislator will be seated for lunch. During your walk and over lunch will be the time to discuss key fire service legislation with your legislator along with any local updates you may have for them.

Sign up to escort your legislator.

Legislative Agenda

Year in and year out, it is important for the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association to support South Carolina State Fire and its requests through the legislature on many different budget items. LLR and State Fire have requested $3 million non-recurring dollars for the Volunteer Strategic Assistance and Fire Equipment (V-SAFE) program, which allows chartered volunteer fire departments and chartered combination departments to apply for grants to purchase equipment and training services.  

In addition to State Fire’s funding requests, the legislature has legislation that is significant to our fire service and its personnel, to include Return to Work, Income Tax Relief, and Pal-800 Radio System upgrades and user fees reduction. The Association will continue to watch various other House and Senate bills that may have potential impact on the SC Fire Service.

I look forward to seeing you, having important conversations, and taking another step forward in progressing South Carolina’s fire service.

Yours in service,

Joshua Holzheimer, President
South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association