Pennsylvania HB 2446: An Act amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in Commonwealth services, establishing the Fire Company Transformational Grant Program.

Bill Text

PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 3257, 3479 PRINTER'S NO. 3484
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 2446
Session of
2026
INTRODUCED BY HADDOCK, SOLOMON, McNEILL, VENKAT, MADDEN,
FREEMAN, RIVERA, SANCHEZ, NEILSON, PASHINSKI, STEELE,
DONAHUE, INGLIS, PIELLI, BOROWSKI, O'MARA, BOYD, TAKAC,
A. BROWN, CIRESI, T. DAVIS, FLEMING AND MADSEN,
APRIL 22, 2026
AS RE-REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, JUNE 2, 2026
AN ACT
Amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in Commonwealth services, establishing
the Fire Company Transformational Grant Program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 35 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
§ 7385.3. Fire Company Transformational Grant Program.
(a) Establishment.--The Fire Company Transformational Grant
Program is established and shall be administered by the office.
(b) Funding.--The office may expend not more than
$30,000,000 annually from the Property Tax Relief Reserve Fund
for the purposes of awarding grants under this section.
(c) Eligible applicants.--A municipal fire company,
volunteer fire company and combination fire company may be
eligible for a grant under the program upon application to the
<--
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

office in the form and manner prescribed by the office.
(d) Purposes.--Grants under the program shall be used to:
(1) Purchase equipment, including vehicles, protective
equipment, communications equipment and accessory equipment.
(2) Renovate, modernize or construct facilities
necessary for the operation of a fire company.
(3) Fund retention and recruitment programs, including
stipends, length of service award programs, recruitment
campaigns and necessary consultants.
(4) Pay staffing costs, including salaries for active
firefighting personnel, not to include any overtime costs.
(5) Pay for expenses related to multicompany projects or
regionalization efforts.
(6) Fund projects that improve operations and service
delivery involving multiple fire companies.
(7) Fund any other uses deemed appropriate by the office
in the guideline published under subsection (f)(1).
(e) Eligibility.--To receive a grant under the program, an
applicant must:
(1) Be actively participating in a fire reporting system
as designated by the office.
(2) Have on record with the commissioner up-to-date
point-of-contact information for the municipal fire company,
volunteer fire company or combination fire company. The
contact information shall include a mailing address, a
telephone number and an email address and must be submitted
to the commissioner no later than July 31 immediately
preceding each grant application period.
(3) Be registered as an active response agency with a
public safety answering point as defined in section 5302
20260HB2446PN3484 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

(relating to definitions).
(4) Have a fire company identification number that is
associated solely with the fire company applying for the
grant.
(5) Be designated by a municipality, by resolution or
ordinance, as a provider of fire or rescue services within
the municipality.
(6) Not be delinquent or in violation of any other grant
or loan issued by the office.
(f) Program standards and requirements.--
(1) The office shall issue guidelines to implement the
program and shall transmit the guidelines to the Legislative
Reference Bureau for publication in the next available issue
of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(2) Program guidelines shall:
(i) Establish eligibility standards for applicants.
(ii) Describe the objectives of the program, which
objectives shall be consistent with this section.
(iii) Establish caps, limits and restrictions with
respect to grant amounts in accordance with subsection
(g).
(iv) Establish an annual application process and
timelines for submission of applications.
(v) Present the criteria under which grant
applications shall be evaluated by the office.
(vi) Establish a timetable within which the office
shall award or disapprove a complete grant application.
(vii) Establish procedures by which the office shall
verify expenditures of grant money by a grant recipient.
(viii) Establish requirements related to
20260HB2446PN3484 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

recordkeeping and audit procedure.
(g) Amounts and criteria.--Grants issued under the program
shall be:
(1) No less than $100,000 and no more than $1,000,000,
unless the applicant for the grant is composed of two or more
municipal fire companies, combination fire companies or
volunteer fire companies that consolidated their equipment,
firefighters and services within five years preceding the
date of the current year's application submission deadline,
in which case the grant shall be no more than $2,500,000.
(2) For a period of fiv