Published: June 30, 2009 11:08 pm      

Amendment may save Logan firefighters’ jobs

A last-minute amendment to the Indiana budget could save the jobs of 10 Logansport firefighters, which might be cut due to city budget constraints.

Sen. Randy Head R-Logansport, introduced the amendment, which releases a portion of funds intended only for fire department pensions. He hopes municipal governments use the money for other means, including paying firefighters’ wages.

Head will conduct a press conference at 8:30 a.m. today at the Logansport Fire Department station on High Street to announce details of the amendment, which he hopes will be a short-term fix to the city’s public safety funding problems.

“These funds could be used to keep them on the payroll instead of laying them off come January,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday night.

Head was contacted two weeks ago by the firefighers union officials in Logansport and Indianapolis and worked hard to get the amendment drafted and approved before the state budget was voted on Tuesday.

Head will be joined at the news conference by LFD firefighters and their families.