By Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33)
I am always awed by the dedication of those who put their lives on the line to ensure the safety of our communities. We owe them much, though we can never fully repay their service and sacrifice.
Pennsylvania is blessed to have so many first responder heroes within its borders. Our state is home to more than 100,000 first responders, including about 10,000 career firefighters and 50,000 volunteers, about 60,000 emergency service professionals who treat life-threatening emergencies and about 30,000 police officers from state, city and county law enforcement agencies.
But not all the first responders who live in our state perform their duties in our state.
Pennsylvania shares a border with six states: New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New York. And at its closest point, Virginia is only 42 miles away.
From conversations I have had with families, hundreds of first responders are longtime residents of Pennsylvania but, for many reasons, serve communities in other states.
First responders like Firefighter Joshua Laird.
A resident of Adams County, Joshua loved the fire service and served in several locations throughout south-central Pennsylvania. In 2000, his dream to become a career firefighter came true when he was hired by the Frederick County Department of Fire and Rescue Services in Maryland.
Joshua and his family continued to live in Pennsylvania while he protected lives and properties in Maryland for 21 years. Unfortunately, on Aug. 11, 2021, Joshua died in the line of duty while battling a house fire in Ijamsville, Maryland.
In Pennsylvania, we provide death benefits to eligible surviving family members of emergency responders, law enforcement and the National Guard in the event of death in the line of duty. Unfortunately, due to an oversight in our state law, families of first responders who perform their duties outside of Pennsylvania, even though the responder is a Pennsylvania resident, are excluded from receiving certain benefits.
Despite Joshua being a lifelong Pennsylvania resident, his children were denied benefits through Pennsylvania’s Postsecondary Educational Gratuity Program, which offers educational funding to the children of those who die in the line of duty while protecting others.
I have introduced legislation, which I call “Joshua’s Law,” seeking to correct this injustice for all families like Joshua’s. My bill amends the law that created that program to remove the requirement that first responders perform their duties in Pennsylvania for their children to be eligible for the program’s benefits.
These first responders live here in Pennsylvania. They vote here, worship here, pay taxes here, their children go to school here – their lives are here, and like many of us, they drive to work. The only difference is they drive into another state, in some cases only a few miles away from their home in Pennsylvania.
And sadly, like Joshua, they sometimes fall in the line of duty.
We owe it to them to protect and provide for their families no matter where they make that ultimate sacrifice.
Sen. Doug Mastriano represents the 33rd Senatorial District covering Adams and Franklin counties. He serves as chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. He is a combat veteran who served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and was deployed three times to Afghanistan. For more state-related news and information, constituents can visit Mastriano’s website at www.senatormastriano.com or follow him on Facebook at Facebook.com/SenatorDougMastriano.