During our meetings, commission of 17 members became concerned about the process Maine EMS, an office within the Department of Public Safety, would follow to distribute these funds. Our concerns focused on the rulemaking process the agency would go through and the length of time that process would take before the funds were distributed.

Under the original legislation that established the funding, it was assumed that approximately $12 million in program funds would be delivered as direct financial assistance to distressed EMS agencies. Although the law did not require rules to be established to handle this payment, Maine EMS went ahead and created them anyway.

This was of concern to the commission, which made the recommendation enact legislation that removes the rulemaking process from the equation entirely. We wanted to make sure these funds got to the state’s EMS agencies as quickly as possible without a lot of red tape.

The remaining $19 million was to be used to finance Maine EMS Training Centers ($1 million) and sustainability grants that met the long-term needs of these agencies ($17.1 million). The rest, about $850,000, was to go toward four temporary positions at Maine EMS to administer the program. The agency was tasked under this part of the program with adopting rules to do this.

Unfortunately, recent news that infighting in Maine EMS prevented the payment of these funds to our EMS providers underlines the Commission’s concerns. And now, new rules that were released by the agency in August indicate that the funds will be spent in a completely different way than what was originally proposed in the legislation.

In essence, I was right on several fronts. First, these funds should have already been delivered. Second, these new rules were developed amid bureaucratic infighting without any legislative or public input. while public hearings were held Earlier this month, after the proposed rules were released, I don’t think the public even knew about it.

That’s not how it’s supposed to work; and it’s awful.

when i passed LD 1859 in the 130th Legislature, initially established the Maine Emergency Medical Services Community Grant Program with $200,000 in funding. Routine technical rules had to be developed by Maine EMS to administer them. However, during Commission meetings, we were alarmed to learn that the agency had failed to do so.

At several meetings, many committee members, myself included, expressed frustration that this crucial program and associated funding was not available to EMS entities despite its enactment by the Legislature more than two years ago. It also gave us doubts about Maine EMS and Maine EMS Council himself had the capacity to perform his duties under Maine law. This failure certainly put both bodies in a bad light.

When the commission ended and we issued our report in Januarywe fully expected Maine EMS and its crew to right the ship. Fast forward to today and it looks like they failed again.

Conformable media reports76 agencies missed funding entirely due to a burdensome grant process. And $19 million sat idle for another year due to inaction caused by disagreement over what to do with the remaining funds. Some members want all of this to be paid to agencies, while others want to invest $9 million in training centers.

This is perhaps the most confusing of all. Part A, Section A-29 from the biennial budget explicitly requested the expenditure of one million dollars for training. That’s it.

And since our commission ended, I’ve also learned that Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants to develop a new set of occupational work rules for emergency responders. This not only puts many volunteer departments at risk, but also undoubtedly requires additional investment in equipment and training.

But until those rules are passed, Maine EMS needs to cut through its own inept bureaucracy and do its job now. Those who need EMS services depend on it.

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