West Virginia House Bill HB2170

West Virginia 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/12/25
• Refer: 2/12/25
• Engrossed: 2/28/25
• Refer: 3/3/25

Caption

Allowing volunteer fire departments to use fire protection funding for certain purchases

Summary

HB2170 expands the list of permissible uses for money distributed to volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments from the state’s Municipal Pensions and Protection Fund and Fire Protection Fund. The bill expressly allows those funds to be used for health insurance premiums for individual members, workers’ compensation supplemental wage replacement coverage premiums, and expenses needed to transition to the State Auditor’s West Virginia Checkbook fiscal reporting system. It also raises the annual cap on educational and training supplies and fire prevention promotional materials from $500 to $5,000. The bill keeps the existing framework that state fire funds must be kept in a dedicated account and used only for authorized purposes, while adding new recordkeeping and accounting requirements. It requires volunteer fire departments to maintain receipts and invoices for five years, segregate state money from other funds, and move non-state money out of the dedicated account within 60 days. It also allows departments to invest the funds and keep the interest, subject to the same anti-commingling and record-retention rules.

Impact

HB2170 amends West Virginia Code §8-15-8b governing the use of state distributions to volunteer and part-volunteer fire companies and departments. Its practical effect is to broaden allowable expenditures from fire protection funding, especially for personnel-related benefits and compliance costs, while increasing the spending limit for training and fire prevention materials. The bill also reinforces fiscal controls by requiring dedicated accounts, audit-based penalties for unauthorized spending, and documentation retention, and it creates a specific allowance for technology and professional services needed to comply with the West Virginia Checkbook reporting system before January 1, 2026.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been received positively in the House, passing 98-0, which suggests broad bipartisan support and little visible opposition. The caption and amendments indicate a policy focus on helping volunteer fire departments cover operational and administrative costs, particularly insurance and reporting compliance. No committee transcript objections are provided, and the unanimous vote suggests the measure was viewed as a practical support bill for local fire service organizations.

Contention

There is little evidence of major contention in the available record, but the bill does touch on a few areas that could raise policy questions. The most notable are the use of public fire-protection funds for health insurance and supplemental wage replacement coverage, the increase in the annual cap for training and promotional materials, and the requirement that departments adapt to the West Virginia Checkbook system using fund money. Any concerns would likely center on whether these are appropriate uses of dedicated fire funds and whether the added flexibility could reduce money available for equipment and core firefighting needs. The unanimous House vote, however, indicates those concerns were not strong enough to generate recorded opposition.