On February 28, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko testified before the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee in support of HB 691- Higher Education- Firefighters and EMS Recruitment and Retention- Scholarship and Loan Repayment Assistance. This bill is one of MACo’s top legislative priorities and seeks to implement several of the recommendations from the 2023 Commission to Advance and Strengthen Firefighting and EMS Within Maryland.
For two years, MACo has spearheaded an all-hands-on-deck, multistakeholder collaborative effort – to call attention to and find solutions for Maryland’s fire and emergency medical services (EMS) recruitment and retention crisis. This effort led to the 2023 creation of the Commission to Advance and Strengthen Firefighting and EMS Within Maryland, which included the Maryland Association of Counties, Maryland Municipal League, Maryland State Firemen’s Association, International Association of Firefighters, Maryland Fire Rescue Institute, Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, and the Maryland Fire Chiefs Association. The Commission’s final report provided data on the current state of Maryland firefighter and EMS personnel recruitment and retention, as well as several recommendations to fortify Maryland’s emergency response capacity. SB 691 seeks to implement several of the recommendations from the Commission
SB 691 is the result of two years of work aimed at ensuring that when Marylanders call 9-1-1, they continue to receive a timely response. Without state and county coordination to address this crisis, counties are left with few tools to stop the critical decrease in our emergency response ranks.
SB 691’s cross-file, HB 899, was heard on March 6, 2024 in the House Appropriations Committee. Dominic Butchko testified in support of this bill.
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