The Warren County Council of Governments appears poised to lend its support to a bill in the state Senate that would allow counties to create authorities for the provision of EMS services.

The idea behind the bill was part of a 2018 commission recommendation. The bill was unsuccessfully introduced in the last session of the General Assembly.

Two Senators – Lisa Baker and Timothy Kearney – have introduced it this session.

It cleared a Senate committee last month, when it was also scheduled for first consideration in the Senate.

The bill would amend the Municipal Authorities Act which, the legislator says, allows the creation of authorities “for a host of purposes – from sewers to swimming pools – but not for EMS.”

They stress that the bill would not mandate that authorities be formed for EMS but rather given counties the option.

“In Pennsylvania, one size solutions do not always fit all. An authority may not be necessary for every county or community,” they write. “Rather than replacing our incredible volunteer and career EMS companies, authorities would exist to support them and their work.

“By giving counties and municipalities the tools to organize regionally, we allow for innovative service models–from centralized administrative support to higher levels of coordination–that can best fit the needs of our diverse communities.”

The Warren County COG reviewed a draft letter in support of the bill during Wednesday’s meeting.

The optional nature of the bill was again stressed.

“It’s a bill that counties or municipalities can create authorities. You don’t have to create them,” Youngsville Councilman Troy Clawson, who chair’s the COG’s legislative committee, said. “If you think it’s good, you can.

“You can’t have an EMS authority the way the current acts are written.”

Several local officials have been clamoring for this bill’s approval since it was introduced in the last session.

The letter read in draft to the COG highlighted the importance of providing more tools which will bring a higher chance of success and problem solving as well as “easier regionalization and more centralized administration.”

The draft letter was to be sent to all member governments for review Thursday.

With the bill now before the full Senate, there was discussion about the potential need to move quickly.

“Personally, I don’t think there’s any reason to delay,” Pleasant Township Supervisor Bucky Knapp said. “Our EMS committee has been talking about this already. We’re going to support it one way or the other. I can’t see any reason to delay it.”