State Senator Patrick Joyce passed a bill in the Senate that would increase the size of the loans that may be made to support purchases of emergency vehicles, all while cutting down on administrative costs. Senate Bill 3018 would establish that fire truck loan, fire station loan and ambulance loan programs must be paid out of locally held funds established by the Illinois Finance Authority instead of a special fund at the state treasury.

In addition, the bill would raise the caps on allowable loan sizes for the programs. Under current law, loan repayments are made to IFA, which must repay them to the state treasury, which then sends funds to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. This process creates administrative inefficiencies that could be eliminated. Joyce emphasized that fixing this process would save the state money. Senate Bill 3018 passed the full Senate with bipartisan support.