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Wantagh Herald 04-20-2023

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_________________ WANTAGH ________________

HERALD Long Island Choice Awards Winners Guide

Inside

VoL. 71 No. 17

A bill of rights for police

Empowering working women

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APRIL 20 - 26, 2023

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New bill would repeal SALT cap D’Esposito, Garbarino, LaLota focus on state, local tax deduction By MICHAEL MALASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com

Michael Malaszczyk/Herald

JoINING U.S. REP. Anthony D’Esposito, far right, were Reps. Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino, as well as Franklin Square resident Ellen Andrasick, to introduce the SALT Deductibility Act of 2023.

A congressman from Seaford and two of his Long Island colleagues are pressing for legislation to eliminate the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes on income tax forms, which would allow homeowners to deduct all of their state and property taxes. U.S. Reps. Andrew Garbarino, Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota are introducing a bill that would repeal the $10,000 cap, bringing some relief to their constituents.

Though Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives, they said they believe that the SALT Deductibility Act of 2023 would receive bipartisan support. Garbarino, whose district is mostly in Suffolk County but covers a portion of Seaford, is a co-chair of the House’s SALT Caucus, a committee created to provide SALT relief to constituents. The caucus comprises 32 representatives, with a delegate from Washington, D.C.’s atlarge district as its 33rd member. Including the District of Continued on page 4

Turning up the heat on recruitment efforts on Long Island By JoRDAN VALLoNE, MALLoRY WILSoN & MICHAEL MALASZCZYK of the Wantagh Herald

Volunteer fire departments are constantly faced with the challenge of recruiting new firefighters and emergency medical technicians — as call volume increases and the number of active members decreases. This weekend, fire departments in the Sixth Battalion — which includes Bellmore, East Meadow, Levittown, Massapequa, Merrick, North Bellmore, North Massapequa, North Merrick, Seaford and Wantagh — will open their doors for the 14th annual RecruitNY campaign.

At open houses scattered throughout the area on April 22 and 23, those interested in joining departments will have the opportunity to speak with active volunteers, ask questions and learn about the benefits of becoming a firefighter or EMT. The Firefighters Association of New York estimates that there are 20,000 fewer volunteer firefighters now than there were 20 years ago. Calls are becoming increasingly more varied, as volunteers are called for medical emergencies, flooded basements, downed power lines, car accidents, as well as fires, the association said. Members of the Sixth Battal-

ion are close-knit, according to chairman Peter Cheswick, who is the immediate past chief of the East Meadow Fire Department. They meet monthly to discuss business, which also includes ways to recruit new members to their respective fire departments. “We’re all seeing the same problems,” Cheswick said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s East Meadow, Wantagh, Seaford — we’re all suffering the same problems of low numbers of people wanting to volunteer.” Cheswick, who started with the East Meadow Fire Department in its junior program when he was 15, and then officially when he turned 18, said that he

began seeing the decline in new volunteers about 10 years ago. Bellmore Fire Chief Timothy Carroll said he started witnessing a decline in membership in his fire department around five to six years ago. “It’s all relative,” Carroll said. “If you ask a guy from 50 years ago, he says, ‘Back in the day, people were dying to get in here.’

What’s low to me is almost nonexistent to them.” “We try to explain as best as possible about how much time it will be once they join,” Cheswick said. “But then people actually sit down and realize how much time is actually taken up, and they can’t do it, so they wind up leaving only after a short amount of Continued on page 16


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