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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 23, 2020 10:44 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Scott Martin |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Distributing CARES Act Aid to EMS Personnel for Hazard Pay |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that will distribute up to $5 million of CARES Act Funding to provide hazard pay for emergency medical services personnel. Recently, the Wolf Administration announced the recipients of $50 million in grants for employers to provide hazard pay to employees in life-sustaining industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Noticeably absent from the list of awardees, were EMS personnel and their organizations. That very issue was highlighted at a recent Pennsylvania Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee public hearing on Fire and EMS issues. During which, the Director of the Bureau of EMS confirmed that the Administration did not include his department in any talks on the matter. Our EMS personnel are the very definition of frontline workers deserving of hazard pay. Throughout the pandemic, they faithfully put themselves in harm’s way to provide care to thousands of patients suspected of having COVID-related symptoms. It is a failure of leadership that these frontline workers were not considered for hazard pay. Pennsylvanians will be forever grateful for the continued service of the men and women of our local EMS organizations. I urge my colleagues to stand with them, to undo this mistake and to join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Memo Updated: September 23, 2020 10:45 AM