02/24/1998 03:40 PM Senate STA

         HB 334 - TUITION WAIVER FOR POLICE WIDOW/CHILD                        
                                                                               
REPRESENTATIVE KELLY came forward, saying he had already presented             
his bill and would defer to the teleconference testimony.                      
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN GREEN asked the sponsor if he originally chose a broad                
definition of police officer or if the definition had been                     
broadened in the process. REPRESENTATIVE KELLY replied it had been             
broadened either in the finance committee or on the floor. CHAIRMAN            
GREEN said she was pondering the inclusion of a U.S. Marshall.                 
REPRESENTATIVE KELLY responded that his intent was to include them.            
SENATOR MILLER asked then why only one type of federal agent would             
be covered and REPRESENTATIVE KELLY said it was his understanding              
that the amendment adopted did cover FBI agents and border patrol              
agents as well.                                                                
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN GREEN asked if the sponsor had an estimate of the number              
of people the bill would currently cover and REPRESENTATIVE KELLY              
estimated that number to be 800 police and 4,000 firefighters.                 
                                                                               
MS. R.J. Nelson, Fire Chief of the Nenana Volunteer EMS Department             
testified via teleconference from Nenana. She mentioned she had a              
personal interest in the bill as she has family and friends who are            
police officers and her husband is a firefighter. She urged the                
inclusion of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), which she called            
the third factor in public safety.  EMT's play a major role in                 
public safety and respond with police and firefighters to all                  
different types of emergency situations. She said generally the                
triad of police, fire and EMS responders are at the scene of                   
vehicle accidents and proposed that this bill would cover only two             
of these three responders in the case that they were all killed in             
the course of responding to an accident. MS. Nelson mentioned that             
on occasion only EMT's respond to certain situations. She concluded            
that she supported the bill, but urged its amendment to include EMS            
providers or the introduction of another bill offering them the                
same benefits.                                                                 
                                                                               
MR. MELVIN VOSTRY, with the Mat-Su EMS section of the Department of            
Public Safety, agreed with the previous speaker. He said often the             
perception is that police and firefighters are the ones in danger,             
but having been both a firefighter and an EMS responder, he                    
attested to the fact that it is equally, if not more, hazardous to             
your health. He believes EMS providers should be included in this              
or another bill. He said paramedics fall into the same category,               
only with a different licencing provision, and should also be                  
covered. CHAIRMAN GREEN responded that there is a problem with the             
bill title and the committee was pondering how this might be                   
resolved.                                                                      
                                                                               
MR. CRAIG LEWIS, the Fairbanks Director of the Interior Region                 
Emergency Medical Service, expressed his support of the bill and               
encouraged its passage. At the same time, he urged the committee in            
the strongest terms to give the same recognition and benefits to               
EMS providers, either through an amendment or in another bill. He              
also stated that EMS providers are in the same danger as their                 
police and fire department counterparts. MR. LEWIS reported that               
EMT's get shot, stabbed, assaulted and beat up. He emphasized the              
danger and risk associated with their job of responding to any                 
incident with injuries as well as any threat of biological and                 
chemical agent releases. He said more than 60 million Americans use            
EMS services in a given year and in Fairbanks, EMS providers                   
responded to twice as many calls as firefighters in 1997. He                   
stressed the fact that EMS providers are killed in the line of duty            
and deserve the same treatment as other emergency service workers.             
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN GREEN observed that EMS providers would not fit in this               
bill due to the title, she proposed the idea of a new committee                
bill to deal with them.                                                        
                                                                               
Number 273                                                                     
                                                                               
SENATOR WARD Noted that anyone with written testimony might send               
this as well as written requests for such a bill to the State                  
Affairs Committee.                                                             
                                                                               
MR. STEVE O'CONNOR, Assistant Chief of Central Emergency Services              
for the central peninsula, and an EMS provider with 26 years                   
experience, agreed with the comments of MR. LEWIS. He clarified                
that EMS comprises EMT's and paramedics, both of whom should be                
covered in a companion bill.                                                   
                                                                               
CAPTAIN TED BACHMAN of the Alaska State Troopers mentioned to the              
committee that the bill's definition of resident would                         
inadvertently exclude some people who have not been residents of               
the state for one year prior to the incident. He said police, fire             
and EMS departments hire people from out of state and, in the case             
of an accident, he would hate to see someone excluded due to the               
wording of this definition. He suggested that the wording be                   
changed so, on line 25 after the words armed services, it would                
read: "or who was a full time employee of . . . " REPRESENTATIVE               
KELLY said it seems a simple amendment and CHAIRMAN GREEN said it              
would be addressed in committee.                                               
                                                                               
MR. SCOTT CALDER testified via teleconference from Fairbanks and               
echoed the remarks of the previous speakers, saying it is                      
appropriate for the committee to submit new legislation to include             
EMS personnel. He said he did have a concern regarding the                     
inclusion of civil authorities in the category of military                     
personnel. He believed it might be important to make a distinction             
between the two categories.                                                    
                                                                               
REPRESENTATIVE KELLY commented on the death of an EMS person who is            
also a firefighter but acting in the capacity of an EMS provider,              
some testimony had suggested this person would not be covered under            
the bill and REPRESENTATIVE KELLY did not believe this to be true.             
                                                                               
SENATOR DUNCAN suggested that the definition of resident is used               
elsewhere in statute and has been carefully crafted and argued in              
court. He remarked they might want to be careful in changing it, so            
as not to cause problems for the bill. He advised consulting the               
legal department before changing it. SENATOR DUNCAN said he was not            
sure, but that it may open up a can of worms.                                  
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN GREEN asked if the change could be made to "who was                   
employed" rather than "resident." REPRESENTATIVE KELLY replied that            
this is a policy call and as with many benefits, a period of time              
is required in order to qualify. He said he does not know that this            
is a gross inequity and he wants to make sure not to cause further             
problems.                                                                      
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN GREEN asked if he would like to bring the bill back on                
Thursday and REPRESENTATIVE KELLY agreed.