Committee advances bill to standardize county EMS oversight and audits

The Senate Government Organization Committee on an unspecified date adopted a committee substitute for Senate Bill 9-21 that would require the Office of Emergency Medical Services to develop a standardized framework for county emergency medical services, conduct financial and operational audits of county EMS systems including those run by volunteer fire departments, and report annually to the Legislature beginning Dec. 31, 2026.

Committee counsel told the panel that the measure mandates "oversight, guidance, and support from the Office of Emergency Medical Services to county commissions and volunteer fire departments," including inspections, audits, corrective-action plans and distribution of state EMS funding "based on a needs-based assessment." The counsel said the office also would oversee continuing education and facilitate inter-county partnerships to improve regional coverage.

A senior senator from the Sixth District said the bill was prompted by problems in his district where EMS units run out of volunteer coverage and could not be questioned by county commissions under an existing local arrangement. He said the staffing problems had contributed to deaths in some cases and that the bill "potentially can help other EMS areas across the state who may be struggling." The committee adopted the committee substitute by voice vote.

The committee later voted to report the committee substitute to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass; the measure will be referred to finance under its original double committee reference. The motion to report was made by the senator identified in the transcript as the senator from Summers and carried by voice vote.

No roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript; the chair declared the ayes to have it on both the committee-substitute adoption and the motion to report. The transcript does not record any amendments that changed substantive provisions of the committee substitute.