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A03432 Summary:

BILL NOA03432
 
SAME ASSAME AS S02658
 
SPONSORJones
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §122-b, Gen Muni L; add §720, Exec L
 
Relates to the establishment of special districts for general ambulance services; requires a report on issues of volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staffing.
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A03432 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A3432
 
SPONSOR: Jones
  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: Section 1 -This bill would allow any county, city, town or village, to establish a special district for the financing and operation of general ambulance services. Section 2 - 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. Section 3 -Provides effective date   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 economies 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: 2023-2024: S3039 referred to Local Government; A2812 referred to Local Governments 2022/2021: S5331 referred to Local Government; A857 referred to Local Government 2020/2019: S1996 referred to Local Governments; A1577 referred to Local Governments 2018: S7443 passed Senate; A9589 referred to Local Governments   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act would take effect immediately.
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A03432 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          3432
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 27, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. JONES -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Local Governments
 
        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, paragraphs (d) and (f) as amended by
     3  chapter  303 of the laws of 1980 and paragraph (e) as amended by section
     4  2 of part KK of chapter 55 of the laws of 2022, are amended  and  a  new
     5  closing paragraph is added to read as follows:
     6    (d)  Establish  a  special district for the financing and operation of
     7  general ambulance services as set forth by  this  section,  whereby  any
     8  county,  city, town or village, acting individually, or jointly with any
     9  other county, city, town and/or village, through its governing  body  or
    10  bodies,  following  applicable procedures as are required for the estab-
    11  lishment of fire districts in article eleven of the town law or  follow-
    12  ing applicable procedures as are required for the establishment of joint
    13  fire  districts  in  article eleven-A of the town law, with such special
    14  district being authorized by this section to be established  in  all  or
    15  any  part  of  any such participating county or counties, town or towns,
    16  city or cities and/or village or villages;
    17    (e) Employ any combination of the methods authorized in paragraph (a),
    18  (b) [or], (c) or (d);
    19    [(e)] (f) A contract may be entered into pursuant to the provisions of
    20  this section for the services of an emergency rescue and first aid squad
    21  of a fire department or fire company which is subject to the  provisions
    22  of section two hundred nine-b of this chapter;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06723-01-5

        A. 3432                             2
 
     1    [(f)]  (g)  Consider  prehospital  emergency  treatment  as  that care
     2  provided  by  certified  emergency  medical  technicians  or   certified
     3  advanced   emergency  medical  technicians  certified  pursuant  to  the
     4  provisions of article thirty of the public health law.
     5    Any county, city, town or village which establishes or participates in
     6  a  joint  district  pursuant  to paragraph (d) of this subdivision shall
     7  dissolve and abolish any preexisting local  district  serving  the  same
     8  jurisdiction.
     9    §  2.  Paragraph  (e) of subdivision 1 of section 122-b of the general
    10  municipal law, as amended by chapter 303 of the laws of 1980, is amended
    11  to read as follows:
    12    [(e)] (f) No contract shall be entered into pursuant to the provisions
    13  of this section for the services of an emergency rescue  and  first  aid
    14  squad  of  a  fire  department  or  fire company which is subject to the
    15  provisions of section two hundred nine-b of [the general municipal  law]
    16  this chapter;
    17    §  3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 720 to read
    18  as follows:
    19    § 720. Report on volunteer firefighter and ambulance  services  staff-
    20  ing. 1. On or before the first day of January two thousand twenty-seven,
    21  the  commissioner,  in  consultation  with  the  state  office  of  fire
    22  prevention and control, shall prepare and publish a report on the staff-
    23  ing of volunteer firefighter and ambulance services in New  York  state.
    24  Such  report  shall  examine  and  evaluate  the  challenges  and issues
    25  concerning the recruiting and maintenance of trained, available staffing
    26  by volunteer fire departments, districts and companies as  well  as  for
    27  volunteer  ambulance  districts and companies. Such report shall specif-
    28  ically examine and evaluate the challenges and issues that  are  partic-
    29  ular  to  rural  areas of the state and areas with geographic challenges
    30  such as mountains, waterways or limited transportation networks.
    31    2. In addition to identifying challenges  and  issues  concerning  the
    32  recruiting  and  maintenance of trained, available staffing by volunteer
    33  fire departments, districts and companies as well as for volunteer ambu-
    34  lance districts and companies across New  York  state,  as  required  by
    35  subdivision one of this section, such report shall also make recommenda-
    36  tions  on how to address and remediate the challenges and issues identi-
    37  fied, with such recommendations being submitted  to  the  governor,  the
    38  temporary  president  of  the  senate,  the speaker of the assembly, the
    39  chair of the senate standing committee on local government and the chair
    40  of the assembly standing committee on local government at  the  time  of
    41  the publishing of the report.
    42    §  4.  This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
    43  the amendments to paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 122-b of the
    44  general municipal law made by section one of this act shall  be  subject
    45  to  the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 4
    46  of part KK of chapter 55 of the laws of 2022, when upon  such  date  the
    47  provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.
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