On February 28, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony to the House Appropriations Committee in support of HB 1439- Public Health- Funding for Trauma Centers and Services with amendments. This bill increases the motor vehicle surcharge, which funds the Maryland Emergency Medical System Operations Fund (MEMSOF).
Counties request that, through amendments to HB 1439, an additional $2.00 be added to the motor vehicle surcharge and reserved specifically for the recruitment and retention incentives outlined in HB 899/SB 692, the Commission’s programmatic recommendations.
Today, when Marylanders dial 9-1-1, there is an expectation that first responders will arrive within a matter of minutes and instantaneously deliver care. Marylanders have rightfully grown to rely on this service as it has become a core pillar of a functioning society. However, that pillar is eroding and in more and more pockets of the state, emergency response times are starting to creep up. No one is more cognizant, or more concerned with this growing trend, than Maryland’s 24 counties.
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