A bill under consideration in the Iowa Senate calls for a 10-fold increase in the state income tax credit for volunteer firefighters, E-M-Ts and reserve law enforcement.

The tax credit for volunteers who serve as firefighters, emergency medical personnel or reserve police officers was increased from 50 to 100 dollars in 2014. The bill would increase it to a thousand dollars. Cyndi Peterson is a lobbyist for the Iowa Firefighters Association, which represents volunteer firefighters says there’s little — if any — type of reimbursement for the volunteers who respond to fires and medical emergencies in their communities, particularly in rural areas.

By one estimate, up to 20-thousand Iowans are currently serving as volunteer firefighters. The one-hundred-dollar per year state tax credit for volunteer E-M-Ts and firefighters was expanded in 2014 to include reserve officers who work as volunteers in Iowa police and sheriff’s departments.