Bill Text: NY S05331 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the establishment of special districts for general ambulance services; requires a report on issues of volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staffing.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-10 - PRINT NUMBER 5331A [S05331 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S05331-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5331--A 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 2, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STEC -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government -- recom- mitted to the Committee on Local Government in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to the establish- ment of special districts for general ambulance services; and to amend the executive law, in relation to a report on volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staffing The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of subdivision 1 of section 2 122-b of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 303 of the 3 laws of 1980, are amended and a new closing paragraph is added to read 4 as follows: 5 (d) Establish a special district for the financing and operation of 6 general ambulance services as set forth by this section, whereby any 7 county, city, town or village, acting individually, or jointly with any 8 other county, city, town and/or village, through its governing body or 9 bodies, following applicable procedures as are required for the estab- 10 lishment of fire districts in article eleven of the town law or follow- 11 ing applicable procedures as are required for the establishment of joint 12 fire districts in article eleven-A of the town law, with such special 13 district being authorized by this section to be established in all or 14 any part of any such participating county or counties, town or towns, 15 city or cities and/or village or villages; 16 (e) Employ any combination of the methods authorized in paragraph (a), 17 (b) [or], (c) or (d); 18 [(e)] (f) No contract shall be entered into pursuant to the provisions 19 of this section for the services of an emergency rescue and first aid 20 squad of a fire department or fire company which is subject to the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05444-04-1S. 5331--A 2 1 provisions of section two hundred nine-b of [the general municipal law] 2 this chapter; 3 [(f)] (g) Consider prehospital emergency treatment as that care 4 provided by certified emergency medical technicians or certified 5 advanced emergency medical technicians certified pursuant to the 6 provisions of article thirty of the public health law. 7 Any county, city, town or village which establishes or participates in 8 a joint district pursuant to paragraph (d) of this subdivision shall 9 dissolve and abolish any preexisting local district serving the same 10 jurisdiction. 11 § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 719 to read 12 as follows: 13 § 719. Report on volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staff- 14 ing. 1. On or before the first day of January two thousand twenty-three, 15 the commissioner, in consultation with the state office of fire 16 prevention and control, shall prepare and publish a report on the staff- 17 ing of volunteer firefighter and ambulance services in New York state. 18 Such report shall examine and evaluate the challenges and issues 19 concerning the recruiting and maintenance of trained, available staffing 20 by volunteer fire departments, districts and companies as well as for 21 volunteer ambulance districts and companies. Such report shall specif- 22 ically examine and evaluate the challenges and issues that are partic- 23 ular to rural areas of the state and areas with geographic challenges 24 such as mountains, waterways or limited transportation networks. 25 2. In addition to identifying challenges and issues concerning the 26 recruiting and maintenance of trained, available staffing by volunteer 27 fire departments, districts and companies as well as for volunteer ambu- 28 lance districts and companies across New York state, as required by 29 subdivision one of this section, such report shall also make recommenda- 30 tions on how to address and remediate the challenges and issues identi- 31 fied, with such recommendations being submitted to the governor, the 32 temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the 33 chair of the senate standing committee on local government and the chair 34 of the assembly standing committee on local government at the time of 35 the publishing of the report. 36 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
