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Committee refers bill on distressed ambulance services back to subcommittee amid funding and implementation questions
Summary
Senate Bill 2,033, which would give state authority and tools to manage distressed ambulance services, was referred back to the HR subcommittee after lawmakers and sponsors debated an FTE, consultant role, continuing appropriation language and who would pay implementation costs.
The Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted to send Senate Bill 2,033 back to the Human Resources (HR) subcommittee for further work after members raised concerns about the bill’s fiscal note and how the program would be implemented.
Why it matters: The bill aims to give the department more authority to require distressed ambulance services to work with the state on performance improvement plans and to provide a consultant mechanism to help with transitions. Committee members said definitions and protections in the policy language are useful but the budget and who pays for consultants or an FTE are unclear.
Sponsor Senator Kristin Roars described the policy intent as preserving emergency medical services in rural areas and avoiding abrupt, unannounced closures that leave neighboring services scrambling. “We wanted the ability for the department to essentially say, no. We can see you’re struggling. You have to work with us,” Roars said, summarizing the bill’s goals.
Committee members and witnesses discussed several implementation questions: whether the Department of Human Services (DHHS) would require an initial appropriation for an FTE, where money for consultant services would come from, whether a distressed service that asked for help could later be billed for department costs, and how continuing appropriation language in the bill would work without a current appropriation. Beth Jacobson, DEQ director of accounting, told another bill’s discussion that some statutory transfer language exists for fees but the department currently does not receive a direct transfer.
Several senators recommended preserving key policy definitions in the bill so the interim committee’s work would not be lost, then resolving fiscal particulars in subcommittee. Senator Devere moved to refer the bill back to the HR division, and the committee approved the referral on a roll‑call vote.
Next steps: The HR subcommittee will revisit the fiscal note, the consultant arrangement, the possible FTE and whether the bill should include an explicit appropriation or rely on a future budget action.
