SPONSOR: Griesheimer
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Public Safety by a vote of 9 to 0. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Legislative Oversight by a vote of 7 to 1 with 1 voting Present.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 1016.
This bill specifies that, if an ambulance district board member or a fire protection district board member elected after August 28, 2021, fails to attend a training session within 12 months of taking office, regardless of whether that board member received an attendance fee for a training session, the board member will be ineligible to run for reelection for another term of office until the board member satisfies the training requirements.
Additionally, eligible voters of a first class county with a charter form of government with a population of at least 900,000, which is currently St. Louis County, may petition to create a fire protection district to replace the service of a municipal fire department in the proposed district. The proposed district does not need to be contiguous.
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that, currently, to serve on an ambulance district, a member must have certain training, and, if the member does not complete the proper training, he or she does not receive compensation for attending meetings. This closes a loophole that exists by now prohibiting a person from continuing to serve on an ambulance district board until the member completes the proper training. This has become a real problem because some areas are trying very hard to find people to serve on these boards, but it is still very important that the members receive a basic level of training. This should not apply to incumbents; this would apply only to the next generation of board members.
Testifying for the bill were Representative Griesheimer; Ambulance District Association of Missouri; and Missouri Ambulance Association.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee. OTHERS: Others testifying on the bill say they would have no problem being involved in working on the bill.
Testifying on the bill was the Missouri Association of Career Fire Protection Districts.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: