NY State Senate Bill 2019-S1996

Senate Bill S1996

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to special districts for ambulance services and to volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staffing

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to local government
Jan 18, 2019	referred to local government

2019-S1996 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1577
Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: General Municipal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §122-b, Gen Muni L; add §719, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: S7443, A9589
2021-2022: S5331, A857
2023-2024: S3039, A2812

2019-S1996 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the establishment of special districts for general ambulance services and requires a report on issues of volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staffing.

2019-S1996 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1996

SPONSOR: LITTLE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

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

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would authorize municipalities to establish a special district
for general ambulance services, and would require a report by the
commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
to identify challenges concerning volunteer emergency services or
personnel.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would allow any county, city, town or village, to establish a

special district for the financing and operation of general ambulance
services. This bill would also require a report with recommendations on
volunteer firefighter and ambulances services by the commissioner of the
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Article 11 of the Town Law governs the requirements to form a fire
district. Presently, a town board or village board of trustees may
establish a joint fire district, when the territory in the joint fire
district is contiguous. However, for a town to establish a new fire
district, it must be outside of any village or city. This restriction
creates difficulty for districts in rural communities or those with
unique geography such as waterways or mountains, as transportation
networks can be limited and response times unavoidably delayed. This
difficulty has led to difficulty obtaining volunteer crews, as each
individual crew member can be required to cover more territory and put
in more hours than in other areas of the state.

According to the New York State Department of Health, a 2013 analysis
showed that the average scene to destination time throughout New York
State was 13.16 minutes. However, in the Adirondack mountain region, for
instance, it was significantly higher in many areas, with the average
scene to destination time in Clinton County being 17.77 minutes, Essex
County 25.55 minutes, Franklin County 18.32 minutes, Hamilton County
53.46 minutes, and Warren County 21.59 minutes. These delayed response
times pose a great threat to saving lives, protecting property and
encouraging the recruitment and retention of volunteers.

This bill seeks to address this issue in two ways. First, it would allow
a municipality to establish a special district with any county, city,
town, or village, thereby allowing communities to establish districts
with economy of scale and participants, in an effort to increase the
quality of emergency protection services. Second, it would further
require a study by the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency
Services, calling upon its experts in the state office of fire
prevention and control, to investigate, report and make recommendations

on how to encourage recruitment of crews and improved response times for
their operations.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S.7443/A.9589: Referred Local Governments; Referred Local
Governments

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None noted.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.

2019-S1996 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1996
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 18, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  LITTLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
 
 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:
 
   Section 1. Paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of  subdivision  1  of  section
 122-b  of  the  general  municipal law, as amended by chapter 303 of the
 laws of 1980, are amended to read as follows:
   (d) ESTABLISH A SPECIAL DISTRICT FOR THE FINANCING  AND  OPERATION  OF
 GENERAL  AMBULANCE  SERVICES  AS  SET FORTH BY THIS SECTION, WHEREBY ANY
 COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR VILLAGE, ACTING INDIVIDUALLY, OR JOINTLY WITH  ANY
 OTHER  COUNTY,  CITY, TOWN AND/OR VILLAGE, THROUGH ITS GOVERNING BODY OR
 BODIES, FOLLOWING APPLICABLE PROCEDURES AS ARE REQUIRED FOR  THE  ESTAB-
 LISHMENT  OF FIRE DISTRICTS IN ARTICLE ELEVEN OF THE TOWN LAW OR FOLLOW-
 ING APPLICABLE PROCEDURES AS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT
 FIRE DISTRICTS IN ARTICLE ELEVEN-A OF THE TOWN LAW,  WITH  SUCH  SPECIAL
 DISTRICT  BEING  AUTHORIZED  BY THIS SECTION TO BE ESTABLISHED IN ALL OR
 ANY PART OF ANY SUCH PARTICIPATING COUNTY OR COUNTIES,  TOWN  OR  TOWNS,
 CITY OR CITIES AND/OR VILLAGE OR VILLAGES;
   (E) Employ any combination of the methods authorized in paragraph (a),
 (b) [or], (c) OR (D);
   [(e)] (F) No contract shall be entered into pursuant to the provisions
 of  this  section  for the services of an emergency rescue and first aid
 squad of a fire department or fire  company  which  is  subject  to  the
 provisions  of section two hundred nine-b of [the general municipal law]
 THIS CHAPTER;
   [(f)] (G)  Consider  prehospital  emergency  treatment  as  that  care
 provided   by  certified  emergency  medical  technicians  or  certified
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD03140-01-9

 S. 1996                             2
 
 advanced  emergency  medical  technicians  certified  pursuant  to   the
 provisions of article thirty of the public health law.
   §  2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 719 to read
 as follows:
   § 719. REPORT ON VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER AND AMBULANCE  SERVICES  STAFF-
 ING.  1.  ON OR BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND TWENTY, THE
 COMMISSIONER, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE STATE OFFICE OF  FIRE  PREVENTION
 AND  CONTROL,  SHALL  PREPARE  AND  PUBLISH  A REPORT ON THE STAFFING OF
 VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER AND AMBULANCE SERVICES IN  NEW  YORK  STATE.  SUCH
 REPORT  SHALL  EXAMINE AND EVALUATE THE CHALLENGES AND ISSUES CONCERNING
 THE RECRUITING AND MAINTENANCE OF TRAINED, AVAILABLE STAFFING BY  VOLUN-
 TEER  FIRE DEPARTMENTS, DISTRICTS AND COMPANIES AS WELL AS FOR VOLUNTEER
 AMBULANCE DISTRICTS AND COMPANIES. SUCH REPORT SHALL SPECIFICALLY  EXAM-
 INE  AND EVALUATE THE CHALLENGES AND ISSUES THAT ARE PARTICULAR TO RURAL
 AREAS OF THE STATE AND AREAS WITH GEOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES  SUCH  AS  MOUN-
 TAINS, WATERWAYS OR LIMITED TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS.
   2.  IN  ADDITION  TO  IDENTIFYING CHALLENGES AND ISSUES CONCERNING THE
 RECRUITING AND MAINTENANCE OF TRAINED, AVAILABLE STAFFING  BY  VOLUNTEER
 FIRE DEPARTMENTS, DISTRICTS AND COMPANIES AS WELL AS FOR VOLUNTEER AMBU-
 LANCE  DISTRICTS  AND  COMPANIES  ACROSS  NEW YORK STATE, AS REQUIRED BY
 SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION, SUCH REPORT SHALL ALSO MAKE RECOMMENDA-
 TIONS ON HOW TO ADDRESS AND REMEDIATE THE CHALLENGES AND ISSUES  IDENTI-
 FIED,  WITH  SUCH  RECOMMENDATIONS  BEING SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNOR, THE
 TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, THE  SPEAKER  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY,  THE
 CHAIR OF THE SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE CHAIR
 OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  STANDING COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AT THE TIME OF
 THE PUBLISHING OF THE REPORT.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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