Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/19/1997 01:35 PM Senate CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 139 AID TO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS CHAIRMAN MACKIE brought SB 139 before the committee as the final order of business. RODNEY JENSEN , Director of Public Safety, City of Nenana, said the Nenana Volunteer Fire Department serves a population of Alaska residents who would otherwise not be served. What little funds the Nenana Fire Department receives from the state only supplement costs for wear and tear on equipment. He said the state receives a great deal from what little amount the departments do receive for their services. Mr. Jensen requested that the sponsor and the committee consider adding enough funding for volunteer emergency medical services for those entities which have separate fire and EMS services to assist in defraying some of the costs incurred in providing these services. He pointed out that almost 50 percent of their volunteer organization live outside the city limits in those areas which they service. TAPE 97-12, SIDE B Number 560 SENATOR TORGERSON , prime sponsor of SB 139, said that while this legislation needs a lot of work, his intent is to take away the inequity that currently exists by limiting state funding for volunteer fire departments to those which are not in an organized municipality. He said he started working on this issue many years ago and ran into the problem of how to identify what a volunteer fire department is. He noted that the City & Borough of Juneau has volunteer departments, but it was never his intention that the pie would be divided to include an area as big or as capable of taxing themselves as a community such as Juneau. Senator Torgerson said there are volunteer fire departments in the state that are having bake sales, pancake feeds, etc., to buy gas for their vehicles to make things happen for their operations, while there are other volunteer departments in the unorganized areas that are receiving $10 a person, which has been prorated down to $2.80 a person just for calling themselves a volunteer fire department. He said he thinks that needs to be changed. He stressed that it is not his intent to make a huge fiscal note out of this but just to take care of the smaller operations that need help. Senator Torgerson said he would like to see the emergency medical services included in this legislation if it can be accomplished with a realistic fiscal note. He said in some instances, it should almost be more EMS than it is volunteer fire departments, but in a lot of cases the same people are performing both the fire services and the EMS services. Number 525 CHAIRMAN MACKIE noted that a number of recent newspaper articles have talked about a number of volunteer EMS agencies in the state that have disbanded because of a lack of funds. He said as a former emergency medical technician, he's well aware of the importance of these kinds of programs, and he welcomes the opportunity to work with the sponsor to try to take care of EMS and volunteer fire departments, whether they are in unorganized or organized areas. SENATOR TORGERSON pointed out that the total disbursement for this program is less than $36,000 that goes out to rural Alaska, and he thinks it this issue needs to be revisited and looked at. SENATOR PHILLIPS asked how many volunteer fire departments are in this category. SENATOR TORGERSON clarified there are 27 departments in this program right now. Number 437 CRAIG LEWIS , Director of the Emergency Medical Services Council, Interior Region, as well as the president of the Alaska EMS Association, testified in support of amending SB 139 by adding volunteer EMS ambulance services to those considered for the $10 allocation. He said the EMS community has equivalent controls that could easily blend with those identified in the bill for volunteer fire departments. There are regulations in the Administrative Code that establish a very rigorous criteria for credentialling ambulance services, which he feels would support anyone's assessment for quality control and quality assurance in the work that they do. Mr. Lewis related that at one time in Alaska there were over 160 certified ambulance services at the basic life support level or advanced, whereas today this number has declined to 115. He said this is a serious decline, and the major reason for it is lack of funding. Those that provide support along the highway network and the places that are more difficult to respond to in rural Alaska need the Legislature's support to maintain that type of service. Number 400 SENATOR PHILLIPS asked if there is a charge to out-of-state residents for EMS services along the highways. MR. LEWIS answered that most of the ambulance services do have a ambulance fee. In many cases, they cannot access the insurance industry because of the requirements of Medicaid, Medicare and a variety of private carriers to be officially credentialed and sanctioned. It is difficult because they have to keep a lot of records, communicate regularly, and the amount of reimbursement is insufficient to cover the costs. Number 365 PAM ELLIS , representing the City of Delta Junction, voiced support for SB 139, as well as adding a provision for emergency medical services. She pointed out Delta Junction doesn't have a tax base, so all of their revenues come from the state and what they can collect in fees for EMS services. Number 330 There being no further testimony, CHAIRMAN MACKIE stated SB 139 would be held in committee for further work. He then adjourned the meeting at 2:45 p.m.
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