PRINTER'S NO. 1564
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1189
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY BROOKS, SANTARSIERO, HUTCHINSON, GORDNER AND
PITTMAN, APRIL 8, 2022
REFERRED TO VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,
APRIL 8, 2022
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled
"An act relating to the finances of the State government;
providing for cancer control, prevention and research, for
ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint
Underwriting Association, for entertainment business
financial management firms, for private dam financial
assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; providing for
the settlement, assessment, collection, and lien of taxes,
bonus, and all other accounts due the Commonwealth, the
collection and recovery of fees and other money or property
due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
including escheated property and the proceeds of its sale,
the custody and disbursement or other disposition of funds
and securities belonging to or in the possession of the
Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims against the
Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and appeals to the
courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to the
Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth and
all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting
moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,
authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes
to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of
section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of
certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every
department, board, commission, and officer of the State
government, every political subdivision of the State, and
certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,
association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or
collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws
imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or
other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
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every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the
Commonwealth," in emergency COVID-19 response, providing for
reimbursement payment for certification as emergency medical
services personnel and establishing the Emergency Medical
Services Certification Program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Article I-C of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343,
No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 151-C. Emergency Medical Services Certification
Program.
(a) Use of funds.--From money appropriated to the department
for COVID Relief - Emergency Medical Services Certification
Program, $3,000,000 shall be allocated to the bureau and shall
be used to make payments under this section.
(b) Establishment of program.--The Emergency Medical
Services Certification Program is established in the bureau as a
Statewide program.
(c) Purpose of program.--The program shall receive
applications and award reimbursement payments to applicants who
successfully attain any of the following certifications after
the effective date of this section:
(1) Emergency medical responder.
(2) Emergency medical technician.
(3) Advanced emergency medical technician.
(4) Paramedic.
(d) Application.--The bureau shall develop an application
for an applicant to apply for a reimbursement payment within 30
days of the applicant successfully completing a certification
listed in subsection (c). The application shall be made
available and posted on the department's publicly accessible
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Internet website and shall be in a form that can be completed
electronically or through the United States mail.
(e) Guidelines.--The bureau shall establish guidelines that
are consistent with the provisions of this section within 30
days of the effective date of this section. The guidelines shall
be:
(1) Transmitted as a notice to the Legislative Reference
Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(2) Posted on the bureau's publicly accessible Internet
website.
(f) Program requirements.--An applicant may be eligible for
a reimbursement payment under this section provided that the
applicant submits the following to the department:
(1) Within 30 days of completion, proof of successful
emergency medical services certification.
(2) A copy of the invoice, receipt or proof of payment
to an emergency medical services education institution
located in this Commonwealth.
(3) The application form developed under subsection (d).
(g) Reimbursement limit.--The bureau may award a
reimbursement payment to an applicant not to exceed the
applicant's cost of certification.
(h) Award.--The bureau shall award reimbursement payments
under this section no later than two months after the receipt of
a completed application. The bureau shall ensure that
reimbursement payments are made available to all geographic
areas of this Commonwealth.
(i) Expiration.--This section shall expire after the money
allocated to the bureau under subsection (a) has been exhausted.
The department shall transmit notice of the date that the money
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is exhausted to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication
in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(j) Ineligibility.--An applicant who has already received a
reimbursement payment for certification under this section shall
be ineligible to participate in the program again.
(k) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Applicant." A Commonwealth resident who has submitted an
application for a reimbursement payment under the program.
"Bureau." The Bureau of Emergency Medical Services within
the department.
"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
"Program." The Emergency Medical Services Certification
Program established under this section.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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