The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Pennsylvania Bill HB 89 requires telecommunications companies to compensate volunteer fire companies $1,000 per hour for late responses to equipment failures
Last action · January 14, 2025: Referred to VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, Jan. 14, 2025Sponsors: Clint Owlett and 11 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Local exchange telecommunications companies must physically respond to equipment or infrastructure failures within 90 minutes of receiving notice if the failure triggers the active deployment of a volunteer firefighter. Companies failing to meet this deadline must pay volunteer fire companies $1,000 for each hour a firefighter is actively deployed. The act takes effect in 60 days.
Volunteer fire companies gain a financial compensation mechanism when equipment or infrastructure breakdowns by telecommunications providers prompt emergency deployments, while telecommunications providers face explicit financial penalties for delayed physical responses.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Local exchange telecommunications companies
Companies must physically respond to equipment failures within 90 minutes or pay financial compensation to volunteer fire companies.
Volunteer fire companies
Fire companies become eligible to receive financial compensation at a rate of $1,000 per hour of active deployment when telecommunications companies fail to respond in time.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggers the 90-minute response requirement for telecommunications companies?
How much is the penalty if a telecommunications company fails to respond in time?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Jan 14, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, Jan. 14, 2025
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 7 more sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
www.palegis.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy30Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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