BOX ALARM - GSFA NEWS ALERT

Important Information from the Georgia State Firefighters Association

First Responder Supplement Program

Greetings:

On September 27, Governor Kemp announced a supplement plan for Georgia’s Public Safety Officials and First Responders. 

The Law Enforcement and First Responder Supplement Program provides a one-time $1000 pay supplement for full-time law enforcement, firefighters, communications officers, and EMS personnel. Also included is a stipend of $300 for volunteer fire personnel. Public Safety entities may apply for the funds from October 1 through December 31, 2021. 

The Office of Planning and Budget is responsible for administering the program. This program was established in recognition of the hard work, dedication, and sacrifices by Public Safety during the COVID 19 Pandemic. 

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is authorized to help address the economic impact of the pandemic, including helping provide economic relief and stabilization for households impacted by the pandemic. While the ARPA allows funds to be used expressly to provide premium pay to essential workers, this grant program would not be directly providing premium pay. Instead, it would seek to address the negative economic impact of the pandemic on law enforcement by providing a pay supplement to offset expenses these employees likely may have incurred because of working in a frontline law enforcement or public safety capacity. This could include expenses such as:

• Potential out of pocket rapid testing to return to work
• Childcare costs incurred while working on the front lines to support our communities with essential services during the pandemic
• Unanticipated dependent care expenses due to duties during COVID-19
• Additional home decontamination or disinfecting services due to COVID-19
• Additional health and diagnosis costs such as co-pays
• Isolation lodging due to COVID-19
• Other cost(s) associated with COVID-19 duties/deployment that impacted the responder

Employers of first responders will be responsible for applying for the program and disbursing funds to their eligible employees. Eligible employers include state agencies, counties, cities, and private ambulance services. Cities and counties will be responsible for applying on behalf of all eligible departments within their jurisdiction. This could include police, fire, or sheriff’s departments, jails, emergency medical services, etc. Payments will be based on the number of full-time public safety or first responder personnel on the department as of August 2021 during the most recent COVID-19 surge. 

The portal for the application and instructions will be at https://opb.georgia.gov/law-enforcement-and-first-responders-supplement   

If you need assistance, GSFA will be here for you. Our Board and District Reps will be briefed on the process and help to make this process as smooth as possible. We are a diverse state, with several types of department makeups, so there may need to be guidance offered along the way.

Diligently, 

The Board of Directors

Georgia State Firefighters Association