HB1867ham003 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Donald L. Moffitt

Filed: 4/23/2015

09900HB1867ham003 LRB099 06310 JLK 34742 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1867

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1867 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services Response Time Note Act.

Section 5. Applicability. Every bill, the purpose or effect of which potentially could result in increases or decreases in fire department or emergency medical services response times, shall have prepared for it, before second reading in the house of introduction, a brief explanatory statement or note that shall include a reliable estimate of the anticipated impact on the response times for fire departments and emergency medical services. These notes shall be known as fire department and emergency medical services response time notes.

Section 10. Preparation. The sponsor of each bill, to which Section 5 applies, shall present a copy of the bill, with his or her request for a fire department and emergency medical services response time note to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, if the subject of the bill is fire departments, or to the Department of Public Health, if the subject of the bill is emergency medical services. The fire department and emergency medical services response time note shall be prepared by the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of Public Health, as applicable, and furnished to the sponsor of the bill within 5 calendar days thereafter; except that whenever, because of the complexity of the measure, additional time is required for the preparation of the fire department and emergency medical services note, the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of Public Health may so inform the sponsor of the bill and the sponsor may approve an extension not to exceed an additional 5 calendar days within which to furnish the note. An extension may not, however, be beyond May 15 following the date of the request. If both fire departments and emergency medical services are the subjects of the bill, then both the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Department of Public Health shall be presented the bill and each shall prepare a fire department and emergency medical services response time note.

Copies of each fire department and emergency medical services response time note shall be furnished by the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of Public Health to the presiding officer of each chamber, the minority leader of each chamber, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Senate, the sponsor of the bill which is the subject of the note, and the member, if any, who initiated the request for the note.

Section 15. Vote on necessity of fire department and emergency medical services response time note. Whenever the sponsor of a bill is of the opinion that a fire department and emergency medical services response time note is not necessary, any member of either chamber may request that a note be obtained, and in that case the applicability of this Act shall be decided by a majority of those present and voting in the chamber of which the sponsor is a member.

Section 20. Requisites and contents. The note shall be factual in nature, as brief and concise as may be, and shall provide as reliable an estimate of the bill's impact as is possible under the circumstances. The note shall include both the immediate effect and, if determinable or reasonably foreseeable, the long-range effect of the bill. If, after careful investigation, it is determined that no estimate is possible, the note shall contain a statement to that effect setting forth the reasons why no estimate can be given.

Section 25. Comment or opinion; technical or mechanical defects. No comment or opinion shall be included in the note with regard to the merits of the bill for which the note is prepared; however, technical or mechanical defects may be noted. The note shall be prepared in quintuplicate, and the original of the note shall be signed by the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Director of Public Health, as applicable.

Section 30. Appearance of State officials and employees in support or opposition of measure. The fact that a fire department and emergency medical services response time note is prepared for a bill shall not preclude or restrict the appearance before any committee of the General Assembly of any official or authorized employee of any State board, commission, department, agency, or other entity that desires to be heard in support of or in opposition to the bill.

Section 35. Amendment of bill necessitating statement of effect of proposed amendment. Whenever any committee of either chamber reports any bill with an amendment of such nature as will substantially affect the impact of the bill on the response times of fire departments or emergency medical services, and whenever any bill is amended on the floor of either chamber in such manner as to substantially affect the response times of fire departments or emergency medical services, the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of Public Health may, on its own initiative, or shall, within 5 calendar days after a request by any member of the chamber by which the bill is then considered, prepare a new or revised fire department and emergency medical services response time note in relation to the amended bill. If such a request is made, the bill shall be held on second reading until the note is received or the 5 calendar day period has passed. Copies of each new or revised fire department and emergency medical services response time note shall be furnished to the persons named in Section 10.

Section 40. Confidentiality. The subject matter of bills submitted to the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of Public Health shall be kept in strict confidence by the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Department of Public Health, and no information relating to the bill or its insurance cost impact shall be divulged by any official or employee of the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of Public Health, except to the bill's sponsor or the sponsor's designee, before the bill's introduction in the General Assembly.".