Boston fire union leadership was featured in an official White House promotional video for President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” proposal, speaking about the benefits they see in some of its tax breaks for firefighters.
Sam Dillon and Leroy Heyward, the respective president and vice president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, joined leadership from the International Association of Fire Fighters in throwing their support behind certain tax provisions in the bill, in an Instagram video posted by the official White House account last Saturday.
The fire union’s public backing comes at a time when the city’s mayor has been battling with the Trump administration.
“Union leadership was extended the opportunity to speak in support of items in the tax legislation that would be beneficial to our firefighters and their families,” Dillon told the Herald Monday.
Dillon said the Boston fire union supports the president’s proposed reduction in federal taxes on overtime; increase in the so-called SALT provision, which is a deduction for state and local taxes that the legislation seeks to hike from $10,000 to $40,000; and benefits he says the bill would provide for fire department retirees.
“President Trump’s plan on the SALT reduction will provide immediate assistance and relief to our members, preventing them from being forced out of the communities we live in, take pride in and we serve in moments of crisis” Dillon says in the video.
The provision has been a top priority for lawmakers from high-tax states. The bill’s final draft, being debated in the Senate, seeks an increase in the cap to $40,000, but limits it to five years. Many Republican senators say that is still too generous.
“President Trump would like to give us an extra $4,000 tax break,” Heyward says in the video. “That is huge for a lot of our citizens, our seniors and our firefighters. That can mean the difference of paying your rent, your mortgage and food on the table.”
Dillon said the union’s decision to speak publicly in support of the tax provisions in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was a “non-partisan” one and not atypical of the Boston fire union’s past coordination with federal administrations.
“I’ve had the opportunity to speak to the Biden White House under the previous administration and I had the opportunity to speak with the Trump White House under the current administration,” Dillon told the Herald. “Local 718, when afforded the opportunity, will speak with anyone on either side of the political aisle when it comes to representing and advocating for firefighters and their families.”
The Boston firefighters union is getting behind Trump on this particular legislation at a time when the city, and particularly its mayor, Michelle Wu, has been battling the Trump administration on immigration, the president’s threatened cuts in federal funding due, in part, to the city’s sanctuary status, and other matters.
The proposed bill would commit $350 billion to national security, including for Trump’s mass deportation agenda, which Wu has criticized in recent weeks.
Dissent in the Senate has also centered around cutbacks to Medicaid, food stamps, and green energy investments that some Republicans are relying on to offset the proposed tax breaks.
Dillon says the union’s backing is centered on provisions in the legislation that benefit firefighters, their families and union retirees, and is non-political in nature.
“We take a non-partisan approach,” Dillon said. “If you are willing to interact with us, and if you’re willing to have discussions with us, about firefighters, about our families, we’re there.”
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Originally Published: June 30, 2025 at 8:36 PM EDT