This week, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis attended the 79th Annual Florida Professional Firefighter’s Conference.

At the conference, Patronis Florida’s firefighting professionals and spoke about Florida’s economic and legislative successes that will directly increase benefits for firefighters and first responders.

“Florida’s economy and job growth continues to flourish, and as your CFO, I’ve been committed to ensuring these trends continue for years to come. However, none of these accomplishments would be possible without a robust safety net of first responders working 24/7/365. No matter how good the economy is, families and businesses would not relocate to Florida if our communities weren’t safe. Their selfless service makes our state successful,” Patronis said.

“ Due to the efforts of our governor and the Florida Legislature, we saw a historic move this session to restore age and years of service requirements for retirement and DROP; improve retiree health insurance subsidies; increase the length of time allowable in the DROP program; and increase employer contributions to investment plans by 2 percentage points. These measures will help support firefighters and other first responders statewide and encourage the next generation of firefighters to choose Florida. As state fire marshal, I’m proud to continue to advocate for Florida’s first responders and ensure they have the resources they need to live a long, fulfilling life during and after their service to the state,” Patronis added.