Volunteer Firefighter Reimbursement Program.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 669

Short Title: Volunteer Firefighter Reimbursement Program. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative F. Jackson.
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 3, 2025
*H669-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ALLOW FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTE RS TO BE REIMBURSED FOR 2
CERTAIN EXPENSES IN THE COURSE OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1.(a) Program. – There is established the Reimbursement for Volunteer 5
Firefighters Pilot Program (Program). The Program shall be operated statewide by the 6
Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management. Firefighters employed by or 7
a member of a volunteer organization in this State shall be eligible for reimbursement for mileage 8
from their duty station to the scene of an emergency, accident, or other event necessitating a 9
firefighter response in their service area. 10
SECTION 1.(b) Reimbursement. – The rate of reimbursement for mileage shall be 11
equal to the current standard business mileage rate issued annually by the Internal Revenue 12
Service. Firefighters eligible for reimbursement shall also be eligible for reimbursement for use 13
of their personal e quipment used at the scene of the accident. This reimbursement shall be for 14
any personal equipment used to secure the scene or treat individuals involved in the emergency, 15
accident, or other event necessitating a firefighter response. The Division shall be responsible for 16
overseeing the reimbursement program for volunteer firefighters under this section. The 17
commanding officer or highest-ranking officer at each volunteer firefighter organization shall be 18
responsible for collecting the reimbursement requests from each volunteer firefighter. Each 19
reimbursement request shall be submitted within 60 days of the reimbursable event. The Program 20
shall terminate on June 30, 2026. 21
SECTION 1.(c) Report. – The Division shall report to the Joint Legislative 22
Emergency Management Oversight Committee by June 30, 2026, on the effectiveness of the 23
Program. The report shall contain, at a minimum, all of the following information: 24
(1) The number of reimbursement requests and amounts of each request. 25
(2) Data on which volunteer firefighter organizations submitted reimbursement 26
requests and any trends or patterns in the requests. 27
(3) Whether the Division recommends expansion of the Program purposes or 28
making it permanent, or any modification on eligible reimbursement or the 29
manner thereof. 30
SECTION 2. Appropriation. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the 31
Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, the nonrecurring sum of one 32
million dollars ($1,000,000) for the 2025 -2026 fiscal year for the operatio n of the volunteer 33
firefighter reimbursement program, as enacted in Section 1 of this act. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 669-First Edition
SECTION 3. Implementation. – The Division shall seek to implement the Program 1
in accordance with Section 1 of this act by January 1, 2026, and shall advertise the P rogram on 2
their publicly accessible Division website. The Division shall consult with volunteer firefighter 3
organizations on the implementation of this Program. 4
SECTION 4. Effective Date. – This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 5