Efforts to increase part-time hours for first responders to go to DeWine for consideration

That concept was originally laid out in a bill introduced by a Clark County representative that passed last month in the Ohio House and moved to the Ohio Senate for further approval.

However, language in that bill has now been amended into another piece of legislation, House Bill 377, that regards coronavirus local fiscal recovery appropriations. That legislation is now going to DeWine for consideration.

Traditionally, if an employee works more than 1,500 hours a year, they are considered full-time and eligible for benefits.

The original bill stated that the increase in those part-time hours for certain first responders would be temporarily and was sponsored by State Rep. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield.

However, the bill that will go to DeWine’s office will make the change in part-time hours for first responders in small townships permanent.

Koehler originally proposed the hour increase in February and stated that the need for the increase relates to staffing issues within emergency medical services and fire departments. That is a result from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

This was before the contents of that bill was amended into House Bill 377. Koehler said that amendment came about after working with Republican Ohio Senator Tim Schaffer.

“This was a pressing concern for first responders and constituents of my district. I am incredibly grateful to Senator Schaffer for his work to amend language that will protect rural residents in Ohio when they need to call 911,” Koehler said. “We were headed to a breaking point as part-time first responders, which make up the majority of our fire and EMS staffing in small townships, reached their 1,500 hour limit written into Ohio revised code.”

Supporters of the change say the need arose from persistent staffing issues within local public safety agencies serving small townships that has resulted in increased overall response times and large spans of unstaffed hours.

Koehler worked with local townships in his district to develop language to cover dedicated part-time staff who have been filling in for the shortage of fire and EMS personnel since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.