BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 398|
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                                    CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 398
          Author:   Morrell (R), et al.
          Amended:  7/12/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE :  13-0, 6/28/11
          AYES:  Wright, Anderson, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, 
            Corbett, De León, Evans, Hernandez, Padilla, Strickland, 
            Wyland, Yee
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/12/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    State Fire Marshal:  certification

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill authorizes the State Fire Marshal 
          (SFM) to accept certification by the United States 
          Department of Defense (DOD) as a firefighter, as an 
          alternative to the basic SFM training and certification 
          standards for the position of Firefighter I of the 
          California Fire Service Training and Education Program, (1) 
          if the DOD certification is accompanied by a national 
          certification or accreditation that has been approved by 
          the SFM and that is based on the International Fire Service 
          Accreditation Congress, Pro Board, or other accepted 
          third-party certification standard, and (2) if the DOD 
          certification is not accompanied by a national 
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          certification approved by the SFM, as described in 
          subdivision (b), the SFM shall follow the verification 
          process adopted pursuant to the authority provided in 
          Sections 13157 and 13159.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Requires the SFM to establish recommended minimum 
             standards for fire protection personnel at all career 
             levels. 

          2. Under existing law, the Training Regulations of the SFM 
             establish minimum standards for statewide training and 
             certification systems for the California fire service. 

          3. Allows a state agency or an agency of a political 
             subdivision within the state to elect to be subject to 
             those standards or to petition for an alternative to 
             those training and certification standards.

          4. Provides the SFM shall jointly, with the California 
             Professional Firefighters, promote participation in, 
             sponsor, and administer the California Fire Fighter 
             Joint Apprenticeship Program (CFFJAP) as the 
             pre-employment recruitment, selection, and training 
             system to be utilized for entry level firefighters.

          5. Requires the SFM to contract with the CFFJAP for the 
             development of curriculum criteria based on 
             recommendations made by the Emergency Response Training 
             Advisory Committee, including training firefighters in 
             their responsibilities as first responders to terrorist 
             incidents.  This is contingent upon the receipt of 
             federal funds.

          This bill authorizes the State Fire Marshal (SFM) to accept 
          certification by the DOD as a firefighter, as an 
          alternative to the basic SFM training and certification 
          standards for the position of Firefighter I of the 
          California Fire Service Training and Education Program, (1) 
          if the DOD certification is accompanied by a national 
          certification or accreditation that has been approved by 

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          the SFM and that is based on the International Fire Service 
          Accreditation Congress (IFSAC), Pro Board, or other 
          accepted third-party certification standard, and (2) if the 
          DOD certification is not accompanied by a national 
          certification approved by the SFM, as described in 
          subdivision (b), the SFM shall follow the verification 
          process adopted pursuant to the authority provided in 
          Sections 13157 and 13159.

           Comments
           
           Purpose of this bill  .  According to the author, "military 
          service members who have served the armed forces in the 
          area of fire protection have received extensive training 
          from the DOD under the Fire and Emergency Services 
          Certification Program.  These service men and women are 
          excellent candidates to serve as California fire protection 
          personnel.  It is our intention to ease some of the burden 
          to those service members in their search for employment."

           California Fire Service Training and Education Program  .  
          The California Fire Service and Training Education Program 
          (CFSTEP), is designed to provide both volunteer and career 
          fire fighters with hands-on training in firefighting, 
          extrication, rescue, emergency vehicle operations, pump 
          operations, and the Incident Command System.  CFSTEP was 
          created to establish coordination among the various 
          elements that contribute to the development, delivery, and 
          administration of training for the California fire service, 
          as a whole.  The objective of CFSTEP is to provide a single 
          statewide focus for fire service training in California.
          The 650-hour course is delivered through registered 
          instructors and may be custom tailored by the instructor to 
          meet a department's specific needs.  Upon successful 
          completion of a course, the instructor will issue a 
          California SFM's certificate of completion to the student.

           Military Training  .  All military bases maintain their own 
          fire protective services unit. In the military, the 
          firefighter training course is generally 13 weeks of 
          specialized training.  During the specialized training, 
          recruits spend time in both the classroom and the field, 
          learning to put out fires. They learn the different types 
          of fires, what equipment to employ and how to use it. 

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          Firefighters are taught first aid and rescue procedures.  
          Military firefighters share reciprocity with IFSAC.  Navy 
          firefighters are responsible for firefighting, equipment 
          repair, onboard damage control, emergency medicine and 
          first aid, and preventive care. 

           Texas Reciprocity  .  Individuals who have received 
          out-of-state or military training may be eligible to have 
          their training deemed equivalent in order to complete the 
          commission-designated skill evaluation process and 
          challenge the commission's examination for the applicable 
          certification discipline. There are two paths to 
          qualification:  (1) For those who do not hold IFSAC 
          certification they may submit their training to be reviewed 
          by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection staff; (2) for 
          persons transferring from a non-IFSAC jurisdiction, the 
          commission conducts a record review for the purpose of 
          determining equivalency to the appropriate commission 
          certification training program or to establish eligibility 
          to complete the evaluation process.

           Prior/Related Legislation
           
          SB 156 (Soto), Chapter 803, Statutes of 2006, requires SFM 
          to contract with a program that is co-sponsored by the SFM 
          and the California Professional Firefighters union to 
          develop curriculum content criteria for fire service 
          related first responder training for terrorism incidents.

          SB 1629 (Soto), Chapter 1050, Statutes of 2002, authorizes 
          the Director of Finance to transfer moneys in the Federal 
          Trust Fund to the Department of Health Services, if the 
          federal government makes them available for the allocation 
          of grants to state and local agencies to defray the cost of 
          providing paramedic training for fire service personnel.  
          The bill also provides for the allocation of funds to the 
          CFFJAP for various costs, including paramedic training 
          course development and instructional training expenses.

          SB 1350 (McPherson), Chapter 612, Statutes of 2002, 
          establishes an emergency response training advisory 
          committee comprised of representatives from the public 
          safety community to develop terrorism-training standards 
          for law enforcement personnel, fire service personnel and 

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          emergency medical services personnel.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/12/11)

          AMVETS - Department of California
          California Professional Firefighters
          County Veterans Service Officers
          Regional Council of Rural Counties
          Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    Writing in support of this bill, 
          the California Professional Firefighters (CPF), states this 
          bill will aid in creating a pathway for our nation's 
          veterans to continue in their chosen firefighting career 
          when they are no longer active military.  California 
          currently does not recognize out-of-state or DOD-issued 
          firefighter certifications as equivalent to SFM standards, 
          which are required for obtaining Firefighter I 
          certification in California.  As such, CPF believe the 
          state SFM should be allowed to pursue a reciprocal 
          accreditation process through an appropriate national fire 
          service accreditation program that does in fact recognize 
          the DOD firefighter certification.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/12/11
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, 
            Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, 
            Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, 
            Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, 
            Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, 
            Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, 
            Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Silva, Skinner, 
            Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, 
            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cedillo, Garrick, Gorell, Portantino, 
            Torres

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          PQ:kc  7/12/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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