From the McAuliffe for Governor campaign:
Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Endorse Terry McAuliffe for Governor
As Virginia’s 72nd Governor, Terry signed the revised Line of Duty Act into law, made major investments in new firefighting equipment, and signed legislation to make mental health services more readily for first responders
This year, Terry worked with General Assembly to get first responders workers’ compensation if they contracted COVID-19 on the job
MCLEAN, VA – The Virginia Professional Fire Fighters (VPFF) today endorsed Terry McAuliffe for governor of Virginia, citing Terry’s proven record as Virginia’s 72nd Governor and his plans to continue to fight for better working conditions and benefits for firefighters and their families.
As governor, Terry signed the revised Line of Duty Act into law to support first responders hurt or killed in the line of duty and their families while making the program more sustainable and less costly for state and local governments. He also invested in new firefighting equipment for the Department of Forestry and signed legislation to make mental health services more readily available for first responders. This year, Terry worked with the General Assembly to get first responders retroactive workers’ compensation if they contracted COVID-19 on the job.
“Terry McAuliffe was a friend to public safety and organized labor during his first administration as Governor of the Commonwealth,” stated Robert Bragg, President of the VPFF. “We know Terry McAuliffe will continue working hard to protect and enhance the safety, benefits and working conditions of our firefighters. We look forward to working with him as he becomes the 74th Governor of Virginia.”
“Virginia’s firefighters are vital first responders working to keep us all safe, and I’m so thankful for all the work that they do. Every single day, our firefighters put themselves at risk on the front lines to help us out in times of crisis, and I will fight every day to do the same for them. We need to make sure that our firefighters have safe working conditions, good pay and the benefits they deserve,” said Terry McAuliffe. “I am so proud to have the endorsement of the VPFF and I look forward to fighting every day for these Virginians as governor.”
The VPFF joins numerous other prominent local and national organizations in supporting Terry, including the Equality Virginia Advocates, Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, Teamsters Joint Council 83, NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, Giffords, Brady PAC, NRDC, Emgage Virginia, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), CASA in Action, the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), UNITE HERE Local 23, and SMART union.
Terry has released 18 detailed plans to strengthen Virginia’s education system and dramatically increase teacher pay, help secure Virginia’s economic recovery from COVID-19, reform our criminal justice system, ensure Virginians have access to regular nutritious meals, address the broken, predatory system of prescription drug pricing, confront the gun violence epidemic, make Virginia the best state in the nation for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Health Care (STEM-H) and computer science education, tackle the housing crisis in the Commonwealth and invest in Virginia’s workforce in the post-COVID economy, ensure Virginians have access to high-quality, affordable health care, tackle climate change and secure Virginia’s clean energy future by 2035, lift up Black Virginians as the Commonwealth rebuilds from the COVID-19 pandemic, further advance LGBTQ+ rights, create a flourishing rural economy, support entrepreneurial ecosystems and tackle rising costs and meet the health care needs, make higher education more affordable and boost Virginia’s agriculture and forestry industries.