Sponsor Statement for SB 137

Alaska is fortunate to have an army of volunteers serving as emergency medical technicians and fire fighters. It is unfortunate that labor law and regulation have become so convoluted that to reimburse these volunteers for out-of-pocket expenses places them over the wage and hour line as "employees".

Some volunteer organizations have gone to extraordinary organizational lengths to avoid this problem, while others continue to reimburse unaware that they may possibly be violating state wage and hour law.

The exemption for volunteer EMTs and fire fighters needs to be made, so that Alaska can continue to receive the benefit of their services without the heavy hand of government over-regulation.