A2463 is up for another vote this Thursday, March 21st. Last time the bill was voted on (January 28th) the primary sponsor, Assemblyman Herb Conaway, withdrew it because it failed to get enough votes to pass. By doing that, he is now able to bring the bill up for another vote in the hopes of forcing your Assembly representatives to vote for the bill. It is very important that you take action NOW to contact your Assembly representatives and ask them not to support A2463. NOTHING has changed in the bill since the sponsor tried to push the bill through the Assembly this past January.
Concerns raised by EMS volunteers, the League of Municipalities and others have still not been addressed. In fact, Assemblyman Conaway and his supporters in the Assembly have ignored Governor Christie’s request, made when he vetoed the same bill in the last legislative session, for a review by the Commissioner of Health on, among other things, the operational impacts of this bill on EMS volunteers and volunteer EMS agencies as well as the costs that would be incurred by municipalities and the State.Supporters of this bill do not want this review done.They fear what such a review would reveal about this bill.would Yet in the last several weeks key Democrats in the Assembly and Senate have stated that New Jersey will face significant fiscal issues for the State’s 2014 budget. Where will the 10s of millions of dollars needed to implement A2463 come from? Perhaps by yet another “raid” on the volunteer EMT Training Fund by the same legislators who supported former Governor Corzine’s removal of $4 million from the Fund and now support this ill conceived legislation.
Please take a moment now to ask your Assembly representatives not to support A2463 when it comes up for a vote in the Assembly this Thursday, March 21st.
You can do this by sending an e-mail NOW! Please click on this link to www.capwiz.com/njsfac/home. It’s fast and simple to do and you don’t even have to know who your Assembly representatives are. Not sure how it works? There's a tutorial on the Legislative page at www.njsfac.org
Please share this site with your family, friends and neighbors and ask them to e-mail their Assembly representatives. PLEASE DO IT NOW!
