Maryland State Firemen’s Association Name Under Attack by Kagan

I would like to take this opportunity to address comments that were made to me on Monday, May 8, 2023, in a telephone conversation with you where you indicated that if the Maryland State Firemen’s Association does not move forward with removing “firemen’s” from its name, then you would ensure that in next year’s legislative session, funding for our volunteer departments would be adversely affected.

I understand that you have had displeasure with the term “firemen” in the association’s name, even though our association is made up of a large number of women, the member departments we support and advocate for are also made up of women, and that in 130 years, there has never been a discrimination complaint against our association because of our name.

However, to show support for fire service diversity and inclusion, the MSFA leadership decided to bring the initiative of changing the name forward in January of 2022. There were many who expressed concern over the origination of this initiative and whether the leadership was moving the change forward because of political influence. Ultimately, several names were submitted by our member companies to our Constitution and By-Laws committee and approved by the

Executive Committee to be placed on the 2022 ballot. As none of the names received a 2/3 vote. as required by our constitution, the name change did not move forward at the 2022 annual convention and conference.

In a matter of diligence, the name change initiative continued past the 2022 convention and over the course of the last year, there has been much discussion and opinions regarding this matter. In an effort to hear the opinions and concerns of membership across the state, the MSFA leadership conducted a survey in October 2022, traveled to numerous county association meeting to discuss the initiative, and held five town hall meetings in every region in January and February of 2023. Healthy and lengthy conversations were had; some in favor of the name change and some against.

As we are preparing for the 2023 convention, four names have been submitted by our member departments and will be voted on in June by the Association’s voting delegation as indicated in our constitution and by-laws.

Our Association is governed by its members; not by stakeholders, not by corporations, and not by politicians. While we have enjoyed many years of positive and productive relationships with many of our state leaders in Annapolis, this will undoubtedly affect the tireless work that our Association puts forth each legislative session for the benefit of our membership. Any adverse action that would affect funding for this Association and its member companies because of a name is an insult to our selfless fire, EMS, and rescue volunteers who put their lives on the line and their hearts and souls into their communities every day.

Respectfully submitted,