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Committee endorses EMS modifications to return some authority to local governments
Summary
Senate Bill 215, based on a 2024 audit of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, passed out of committee unanimously. Sponsors and EMS leaders said the changes aim to give counties and municipalities greater control over 911 and interfacility transport arrangements while protecting rural providers from destabilizing competition.
Senator Owens presented Senate Bill 215, describing it as a response to recommendations from the 2024 audit by the Legislative Auditor General of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. "This bill is out of the audit...it is really about giving more local control...to determine how 911 services and the interfacility transport services are provided," Senator Owens said.
Darren Bushman, division director for the Bureau of EMS at the Department of Public Safety, told the committee the audit highlighted interfacility transports as a key issue and that the bureau had worked with the sponsor on clarifying statutory authority. "When the audit recommendations came out, we had two items external to the department: one about fines and one about giving decisionmaking authority to local government," Bushman said. He told the committee the bureau is prepared to implement legislative choices.
Andy Smith, legislative liaison for the Rural EMS Directors Association of Utah, and Sheriff Nathan Curtis, representing Sevier County and speaking as first vice president of the Utah Association of Counties, both testified in support, saying local control allows municipalities and counties to weigh service and cost trade-offs for 911 and interfacility transports. "Keeping the interfacility transports with the 911 provider in these locations, we believe is the best option," Smith said. Sheriff Curtis warned that if profitable transports were taken away by outside providers, local agencies could be left with the cost burden of 911 calls.
Committee members asked detailed questions about market effects and rural coverage. Senator Vickers expressed concern about prior attempts to deregulate ambulance services and potential destabilization; Senator Owens and witnesses said the bill is designed not to deregulate the field completely and includes protections to avoid undermining current rural providers.
Senator Vickers moved to recommend SB 215 favorably to the full Senate; the committee voted unanimously. Committee members and witnesses noted follow-up meetings with providers to refine the bill as it moves forward.
