HARRISBURG – The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, chaired by Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33), today advanced three bills that would support Pennsylvania’s emergency responders.
“Each of these measures is important to our emergency responder community and has been worked on extensively over the course of the 2023-24 legislative session,” Mastriano said.
House Bill 843 would establish a second urban search and rescue team in western Pennsylvania. Funding for the team was included in this year’s state budget.
“In August of 2023, our committee heard first-hand the need for a second urban search and rescue team, Mastriano said. “Currently, there is a team – Task Force 1 – located in Philadelphia with great capabilities; however, western Pennsylvania has had several major incidents in recent years, like the bridge collapse and East Palestine train derailment, where emergency response and expertise is needed in minutes, not hours.”
House Bill 1304 would update the language in the 911 Law to keep up with changing technologies.
“Last year, we re-authorized the 911 Law and commissioned a study to look at possible savings,” Mastriano said. “While we wait for the study, House Bill 1304 would allow us to update the terminology, increase penalties for misuse of the 911 system, and ensure service outage reporting requirements for communications service providers.”
House Bill 2407 includes several reforms for Pennsylvania fire companies and EMS organizations. The bill would update the state Fire and EMS Grant Program by enabling fire and EMS companies to use grants for preventative health measures, mental health awareness and treatment. The legislation also would give firefighters the flexibility to test after each module rather than taking a cumulative test to receive their Firefighter I certification. This language came from Mastriano’s Senate Bill 1101. The bill also would increase the thresholds that fire and EMS companies can borrow from the low-interest Fire and EMS Loan Program. This provision is similar to Mastriano’s proposal in Senate Bill 1193.
“House Bill 2407 will provide needed flexibility to firefighters as they go through the Firefighter I certification,” Mastriano said. “Right now, firefighter applicants must complete four training modules totaling 188 hours. They then must pass a cumulative test covering all four modules. This legislation would enable applicants to be tested following each of the four modules.”
The three bills now advance to the full Senate for consideration.
Video from the committee meeting is available here.
Constituents of the 33rd Senatorial District can learn more about Mastriano by visiting his website at SenatorMastriano.com or following him on Facebook at Facebook.com/SenatorDougMastriano.
Media contact: Nate Silcox
717-787-8930