Saturday, July 09, 2005

Retiree Qualification (from a reader)

Most (ok, ALL) of our publicity has been directed at active duty officers, as they are the only ones we have any realistic chance of contacting. The is no central fax machine that we can contact retirees the way we can fax to District and units. So if you know a retiree, let them know about this. Governor Blago signed into law this week an amendment to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act finally authorizing the testing and certification of retired law enforcement officers to carry firearms. If you read the text, this is only a first step as a committee has to approve a course of fire and have it approved by the Board, but it's an important step as the mayor has been fighting it the whole way, saying that if retired CPD are allowed to carry weapons, the city will be liable if they shoot someone. Now we don't purport to be lawyers, though we know a few, and we even know a few that might not be lined up against the wall when the revolution comes. But how can any sane human being hold the city liable for a person not in uniform and not acting as their agent? Seems like bad legal advice to us.

UPDATE: Retirees must keep their FOID cards current when qualifying.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This bill was introduced by Representative Ron Paul of Texas on June 8th Public Safety Tax Cut Act (Introduced in House)

HR 2822 IH
109th CONGRESS
1st Session

H. R. 2822
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for police officers and professional firefighters, and to exclude from income certain benefits received by public safety volunteers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 8, 2005

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for police officers and professional firefighters, and to exclude from income certain benefits received by public safety volunteers.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Public Safety Tax Cut Act' .

SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR POLICE OFFICERS AND PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS.

(a) In General- Subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is amended by inserting after section 25B the following new section:

`SEC. 25C. POLICE OFFICERS AND PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS.

`(a) Allowance of Credit- In the case of an eligible individual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter for a taxable year an amount equal to $1,000.

`(b) Eligible Individual- For purposes of subsection (a), the term `eligible individual' means an individual who--

`(1) is a police officer or firefighter in a police department or fire department which is organized and operated by a State or political subdivision to provide police protection, firefighting services, or
emergency medical services for any area within the jurisdiction of such State or political subdivision, and

`(2) is employed on a full-time basis during the taxable year as a police officer or firefighter.'.

(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 25B the following new item:

`Sec. 25C. Police officers and professional firefighters.'.

(c) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2005.

SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME OF CERTAIN BENEFITS RECEIVED BY PUBLIC SAFETY VOLUNTEERS.

(a) In General- Part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended by inserting after section 139A the following new
section:

`SEC. 139B. BENEFITS RECEIVED BY PUBLIC SAFETY VOLUNTEERS.

`(a) In General- Gross income does not include the value of any public services benefits received by a public safety volunteer.

`(b) Definitions- For purposes of this section-

`(1) The term `public services benefits' means services such as water, sewer, trash pickup, or other similar services provided by a State or local government agency as a benefit to its public safety volunteers.

`(2) The term `public safety volunteer' means a volunteer firefighter or volunteer auxiliary police officer.'.

(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 139A the following:

`Sec. 139B. Benefits received by public safety volunteers.'.

(c) Effective Date- The amendment made by this section shall apply to amounts received in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2005.

7/10/2005 10:56:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

holy cut and paste batman! why not just post the link with a short summary? it'd save everyone a lot of scrolling :) this is meant as a gentle teasing, not a rip job, so don't fly off the handle

7/10/2005 11:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A few posts back there was a discussion about Joe Murphy, the Lt. recently named to head Crime Lab.

Rumor has it that over the weekend he was seriously injured in an auto accident in Michigan and is in pretty bad shape.

7/10/2005 08:42:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ROFLMAO at "holy cut and paste Batman" comment. Thanks for the laugh!

7/13/2005 01:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't egg Timmy on.

7/13/2005 08:56:00 AM  

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