Bill Description: Senate Bill 1416 would move the EMS Bureau from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to the Office of Emergency Management. It would also expand the scope of the program and lay the groundwork for its future expansion and increased spending.
Rating: -3
Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?
Senate Bill 1416 is a lengthy bill amending dozens of sections of Idaho code and creating several new ones. The broad purpose of the bill is to move the EMS Bureau from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to the Office of Emergency Management, but the bill would also expand the scope of the program and lay the groundwork for its future expansion and increased spending.
The expansion of scope can be seen in the intent language contained in the newly created Section 46-1028, Idaho Code. It says in part, "It is the purpose of the legislature of the state of Idaho in the adoption of sections 46-1028 through 46-1044, Idaho Code, to recognize the delivery of emergency medical services as an essential service and to provide reasonable regulation of the same."
The expansion of scope can also be seen by comparing the language removed from the list of duties of the director of the Department of Health and Welfare to the language added to the duties of the Office of Emergency Management.
The deleted language says, "The supervision and administration of an emergency medical services program, including but not limited to assisting other governmental agencies and local governmental units, in providing first aid emergency medical services and for transportation of the sick and injured."
The new language says, "Supervise and administer an emergency medical services program, including but not limited to assisting other governmental agencies and local governmental units in providing first aid emergency medical services and providing transportation of the sick and injured; promulgate rules regarding administration of emergency medical services and licensure and certification requirements pertinent to emergency medical services, subject to legislative approval. Such rules may be of general application across the state or may be limited in time, place, and circumstance as needed; and issue emergency medical services certifications, licenses, and permits."
(-1)
Senate Bill 1416 would create Section 46-1040, Idaho Code, to establish "in the state treasury the emergency medical services sustainability fund." The bill says "the office of emergency management shall be responsible for distributing moneys from the emergency medical services sustainability fund to qualifying entities that submit a grant application for moneys from such fund."
This is an expansion of government designed to facilitate additional expansions of government.
(-1)
Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?
In addition to creating the "emergency medical services sustainability fund" and the grants it would be used to facilitate, the bill has a price tag, which we can find in the fiscal note for Senate Bill 1416.
It says, "Beginning in fiscal year 2026, cost share will provide for supplemental EMS services. For the first year of implementation the projected cost is $2.2 million. Future costs will be determined on local input regarding program needs and budget adjustments. There could be a federal cost-share for these services."
The need to fund emergency medical services (and the scope of those services) should be determined and funded at the local level, not outsourced to the state or federal government.
It is of particular concern that this expansion of government would seek out additional federal funding, which would further erode the principles of federalism by increasing Idaho's dependence on debt-funded federal dollars.
(-1)
