Niemerg-Backed Firefighter Bill Approved in House

State Representative Adam Niemerg of Dieterich reports his first bill passed out of the Illinois House on Thursday.

Senate Bill 2150 amends the Illinois Municipal Code and the Fire Protection District Act to qualify volunteer, paid-on-call, or part-time experienced firefighters over the age of 35 to take examinations to be full-time firefighters. Current law does not permit volunteer, on-call, part-time firefighters over the age of 35 to test for full-time positions, unless these individuals are members of a department transitioning to a full-time department or if they have a military exception.

Niemerg said some experienced firefighters in his district would like the opportunity to test for positions, even though they are over the age of 35, because of their firefighting experience. If these candidates are not part of a department that is transitioning, or if the military exception does not apply, they currently are ineligible. The bill draft would simply allow for testing over the age of 35 if they have some experience as a volunteer, with a fire district, or have been part-time, paid-on-call, or full-time.