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Our opinion: State adds to a ‘heavy lift’

We hope local state representatives Kathy Rapp and Scott Hutchison are paying attention to a situation that cries out for a change in state law.

The state has begun requiring additional training for municipal-level emergency management coordinators — but finding someone in each rural municipality has become a problem in Warren County, according to Public Safety Director Ken McCorrison.

There are currently six vacancies throughout Warren County, but the number is only that low because some townships and boroughs are sharing a coordinator.

“It’s a heavy, heavy lift,” he said of the training requirements.

We have no doubt the reasoning behind the increased training requirements are sound. It makes sense that each municipality have at least one person with the highest levels of training available at a moment’s notice in situations where seconds can mean the difference between life and death. In the halls of Harrisburg, we’re sure it didn’t seem as if the new training requirements would be too much given so much continuing learning has always been part of emergency management jobs.

Unfortunately, sound reasoning doesn’t always lead to sound practice — and local municipalities are buckling under the additional pressure from the state.

“Harrisburg has now gotten out of control,” Pleasant Township Supervisor Arden Knapp said during a recent Warren County Council of Governments meeting.

It’s up to our state elected officials to bring Harrisburg back under control.

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