CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates passed a bill Monday that supporters say will provide a permanent funding source for Emergency Medical Services statewide.
Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, the bill’s chief sponsor, said after years of attempts at getting consensus, this group of delegates passed a bill with permanent funding from EMS using profits from the West Virginia Lottery.
HB 5168 says at the end of each fiscal year lottery profits will be used to create a $6 million Emergency Medical Services Salary Enhancement, Crisis Response, and Mental Health Treatment Fund; $3 million for a County Emergency Medical Services Fund; and $3 million for the All County Emergency Medical Services. A total of $12 million.
“This is the first permanent funding to support the EMS workers of the state of West Virginia,” Statler said during Monday’s floor remarks. “This is the first of it’s kind in the state. We’ve had it in there before in different ways, but this is permanent.”
Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, supported the bill, which passed 95-0, but called it a partial solution to chronic financial problems for some struggling EMS units.
“In some places this is the only medical service that some people have,” Lewis said. “It’s long overdue. We have provided state appropriations for this service, which it should be provided for fully. So this is a good first step, but it also insufficient.”
Del. Buck Jennings, R-Preston, said this bill will be vital for their area, where the county commission has had to take emergency actions to help local EMS units make payroll. Commissioners are considering enacting a new fee to fund EMS operations—there is no immediate word on how this bill would affect that decision, if at all.
“Thank you! “Thank God, we finally got something done,” Jennings said. “I’ve only been trying to get this funding since 2018—that’s how long I’ve been here.”
Over the last five years several EMS units have folded due to financial pressures.
During floor debate, Lewis pointed out that every time an ambulance completes a call, the agency takes a $500 loss.
Statler agreed.
“We have a lot of struggling systems that have failed,” Statler said. “I hope this patches that and gets them back on the road so when we travel up and down the highways in West Virginia, we’ll have someone ready to respond if we have an accident.”
The funds will be administered by the Director of the Office of Emergency Management and the counties will be evaluated on a wide range of metrics. The funds will be dispersed based on the level of need for each county, the impact on counties that have a special levy for emergency medical services, and recruiting challenges created due to interstate competition.
“They have to match the funds,” Statler said. “A lot of counties do it different ways—some of the counties have money from severance taxes, and this will allow that to count.”
The measure now heads to the state Senate for consideration.