EMS ADVOCACY
Advocacy committee celebrates 2023By John Seward, Regulatory Affairs Officer; Chair, Emergency Medical Services, University of Denver
As the first session of the 74th Colorado General Assembly drew to a close EMSAC was proud to celebrate its work advocating for the interests of Colorado EMS professionals, agencies, and education groups. Our lobbying and government relations team at Howes Wolf was hard at work every day beneath the gold dome at the state capital advancing the EMS agenda. Together with our coalition of EMS advocacy partners at Mutch Government Relations and the Capstone Group, EMSAC kept emergency medical services at the center of discussion and debate among the state’s senators and representatives.
Every EMSAC-supported bill passed both chambers of the legislature and has been or will be signed by the governor. This includes:
- HB23-1116 concerning Contracts Between Carriers and Providers,
- HB23-1213 concerning Stop the Bleed School Training and Kits,
- SB23-023 concerning CPR Training in High Schools and
- SB23-095 concerning Unlawfully Aiming Laser Device at Aircraft.
EMSAC joined with coalitions of local governments and healthcare organizations to amend SB23-093 concerning Increase Consumer Protections Medical Transactions and our opposition to HB23-1126 concerning Consumer Reports Not Include Medical Debt Information was a driving force behind its significant amendments. We partnered with the Colorado Hospital Association to oppose HB23-1215 concerning Limits on Hospital Facility Fees and HB23-1243 concerning Hospital Community Benefit.
Much of our committee’s advocacy was devoted to the state budget. Revenue growth has moderated going into the 2023-24 budget, and there’s no new federal money flowing. It was more of a “normal” budget year after unexpectedly strong state revenues followed by significant federal relief funds following the pandemic.
With EMSAC advocacy the Joint Budget Committee increased general fund expenditures to cover the loss of the enhanced federal matching for Medicaid that came to an end with the conclusion of the public health emergency. The increased expenditures help keep those covered by Medicaid insured, maintaining an important source of revenue to support EMS agencies.
As property valuations continue to soar, EMSAC joined with stakeholders from all corners of the state to seek solutions to an impending property tax disaster. While hastily written and rushed though at the waning hours of the session, EMSAC secured the protection of fire protection districts, health services districts and ambulance districts in SB23-303 concerning Reduce Property Taxes and Voter-approved Revenue Change. It will require a reduction of property tax rates with losses to local government revenues to be backfilled with diversion of some Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surpluses. The measure must be approved by voters in November because it requires a change in TABOR refund.
As we enter the interim period EMSAC will remain hard at work advancing the EMS agenda. This includes ongoing work with the EMS Sustainability Task Force and Ground Ambulance Licensing Task Force. EMSAC eagerly awaits the next legislative session to continue the work of advocating for its members and partners. We will convene this summer to plan for it and develop drafts of any bill language that seems necessary and important to sustain EMS in Colorado.
The final report from our lobbying team at the Colorado State Capitol is effusive
Crossing the finish line
People traditionally get a little testy in the waning days of the session, so if you enjoy a little political gossip mixed into your happy hour cocktail, here’s a list of rancorous events taking place in the final days leading up to adjournment at 10:00 PM on Monday, May 8th.
Property tax relief passes, bitterly – A complicated measure, SB 23-303, requires a reduction of property tax rates with losses to local government revenues to be backfilled with the diversion of some Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surpluses. The measure must be approved by voters in November because it requires a change in TABOR refunds. On the very last day, House Democrats passed d amendments to the bill to attract the support of some local governments (i.e. fire districts, ambulance districts) drawing much Republican rhetorical scorn during debate on the final evening. The final version of the bill passed the House Monday evening without the NO votes of the House’s 19 Republicans, who simply walked out of the chamber in protest. That’s a first in our collective memories. The future of this measure could be a nail-biter, given the difficulties of presenting a very complicated ballot measure to voters.
House Dems fight among themselves – During recesses on Monday evening, a meeting of House Democrats reportedly degenerated into a rhetorical assault on Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, led by Democratic ultra-progressive Rep. Elisabeth Epps of Denver. Democratic women of color accused McCluskie of not defending them enough against innuendos from conservative Republicans and hostile social media posts, and of not gaveling down GOP members more regularly. See this Colorado Public Radio story for details - https://www.cpr.org/2023/05/09/tensions-between-house-democrats-flare-in-final-hours-of-session/
Senate Democrats crackdown – The Senate was largely free of the Democratic-Republican procedural conflicts seen in the House this session, but when Republicans threatened to slow things down on Sunday and Monday the Senate majority lowered the hammer and limited debate, ensuring the passage of HB 23-1311, the TABOR refund bill. (There undoubtedly were some hot Democratic debates over the property tax bill.)
The 2023 session may not have begun on a hopeful note, but it did begin with a real sense of change. In the 65-member House of Representatives, 30 were brand new to the capitol, many of them young Democratic progressives with a scant sense of how the legislature operates. Republicans, contrary to some pre-election prognostications, lost a record number of seats in both chambers. The 19 GOP House members promised early on that they would make things difficult for the majority and they lost many hours of sleep to accomplish their goals. Republicans made long speeches on minor bills they supported, and delayed action several times by asking bills be 'read at length' in their entirety. Democratic majority leadership responded by invoking rules that limited the length of debate, something rarely done in past sessions. House GOP first-timers included some hard-right representatives, mostly from El Paso County, who became major players in GOP-delaying tactics. But House progressive Democrats had a mixed scorecard, losing bills to ban assault weapons, create “fairer” scheduling for workers, and allow cities to permit safe drug injection sites. Those frustrations will boil over into the summer months.
- The final version of Senate Bill 303 concerning Reduce Property Taxes And Voter-approved Revenue Change can be found here. Rep. Weissman ran amendments on the third reading in the second chamber on the very last night of the session. This was very unusual and not very transparent for the public at large. For those of you running a public district, you may be interested in page 45, -see amendments below:
- THE REIMBURSEMENT FOR A FIRE DISTRICT, HEALTH SERVICE DISTRICT, OR AMBULANCE DISTRICT THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A REIMBURSEMENT BASED ON SUBSECTION (4.5)(b)(I) OF THIS SECTION IS EQUAL TO FIFTY PERCENT OF THE DISTRICT'S TOTAL PROPERTY TAX REVENUE REDUCTION FOR THE PROPERTY TAX YEAR, and,
- IF THE TOTAL OF ALL REIMBURSEMENTS STATEWIDE WOULD OTHERWISE EXCEED THE LIMIT SET FORTH IN SUBSECTION (4.5)(c)(I) OF THIS SECTION FOR A PROPERTY TAX YEAR, THE STATE TREASURER SHALL PROVIDE THE REIMBURSEMENTS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN THIS SUBSECTION (4.5) TO ALL FIRE DISTRICTS, HEALTH SERVICE DISTRICTS, AND AMBULANCE DISTRICTS AND THEN PROPORTIONALLY REDUCE THE REIMBURSEMENT AMOUNT FOR ALL OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES SO THAT THE TOTAL OF ALL REIMBURSEMENTS STATEWIDE, INCLUDING THE
REIMBURSEMENT AMOUNTS FOR ALL FIRE DISTRICTS, HEALTH SERVICE DISTRICTS, AND AMBULANCE DISTRICTS, EQUALS THE LIMIT FOR THE PROPERTY TAX YEAR.
Partner, Howes Wolf
