Brief (1)
HB 2696 amends statutes that are a part of the act under which ambulance services and emergency medical services attendants are regulated.
The first amendment deletes language that limits a permit to operate an ambulance service to the calendar year in which the permit is issued. New language makes the permit valid for one year and allows the Emergency Medical Services Board to set the expiration date. The Senate Committee amendments clarify the language relating to the time for which a permit may be issued and authorize the Emergency Medical Services Board to prorate fees as necessary to implement the change.
Amendments appearing in Section 2 of HB 2696 make a technical change in the name of the commission that accredits allied health education programs and delete the statutory expiration date of December 31 for attendants' certification. New language provides that all certificates are to expire on December 31, 2000, and, on and after January 1, 2000, expire on a date set by the Board. A renewal certificate would be valid for two rather than one year pursuant to the amendment. Additionally, the amendments delete the statutorily prescribed minimum number of hours of continuing education required for renewal of an attendant's certificate, leaving the number of required continuing education hours to be prescribed by the Emergency Medical Services Board. The Senate Committee further amended the statute to authorize proration of fees as necessary to implement the change in the dates on which certificates are to be renewed.
Amendments appearing in Section 3 concern instructor-coordinator's certification and delete the current statutory expiration date, replacing the deleted language with a requirement that the certification expire on the expiration date of an attendant's certificate, or license to practice as a physician or professional nurse, whichever is applicable. The statutorily prescribed minimum hours of continuing education is deleted and replaced by a reference to hours of continuing education prescribed by the Board. New authority for the Emergency Medical Services Board to deny, revoke, limit, modify, suspend, or refuse to renew an instructor-coordinator's certificate is added to the statute, along with the grounds that may result in such disciplinary action. The latter amendments expand authority that exists under the current law found at KSA 65-6133. The Senate Committee further amended the section to authorize the proration of fees during the implementation of changes in the expiration dates of certificates.
Section 4 of HB 2696 concerns the procedure for issuing training officers' certificates and parallels the changes made in the expiration and renewal of instructor-coordinator's certificates in the previous section. Other changes pertaining to disciplinary authority are primarily technical in nature. The Senate Committee amended the section to authorize the proration of fees as the expiration date of certificates are changed to conform with the new authority to make the certificate expiration date conform with the expiration date of certain licenses.
Background
HB 2696 was introduced at the request of the Emergency Medical Services Board and supported by the Board's representative at the Committee hearing on the bill. Support was also expressed by a representative of the associations representing emergency medical services attendants. The primary purpose of the bill, according to conferees, is to make the Board's operations more efficient and cost effective by allowing the renewal of attendants, instructor-coordinators, and training officer certification renewals to be staggered rather than all occurring at the same time each year.
The fiscal note on HB 2696 indicates there might be a one-year increase in fee collections while the change to two-year certification of attendants is being implemented, but that fee collections should return to the current levels in the second year.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html