EMS Redesign Legislation S818/A2095
Thank you for supporting New Jersey EMS and the attempts through legislative bills S-818 and
A-2095 to redesign the state's EMS system to improve care for the citizens of New Jersey that
dial 911.
On Monday, January 9, 2012, Governor Christie conditionally vetoed the bill that was previously
approved by the New Jersey Assembly and Senate. Subsequently, the legislature did not concur
with the conditions of the conditional veto. As a result, with the 2-year legislative cycle now
concluded, the sponsors of the bill must reintroduce the legislation in both the Assembly and the
Senate.
With the help of the EMS community we have made great progress. We succeeded in getting
further in this process than ever before. The reality is that only 2% of all bills introduced ever get
signed into law. The action taken by the Governor was a conditional veto rather than an outright
veto of the legislation. By conditionally vetoing the bill, the Governor has acknowledged that it
is time to bring about substantial improvements to the life-saving, pre-hospital emergency
medical care delivery system in New Jersey. Prior to reaching the Governor's desk, the
legislation passed both Houses of the Legislature, and received significant media attention.
Again, more public attention than our system has gotten in many years.
Since the issuance of the conditional veto, we have heard from both the Governor's Office and
Commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services that they have both placed this
issue front and center. They have both acknowledged the need to improve the EMS System in
New Jersey, and have both committed to bringing stakeholders to the table once again. We are
firmly convinced that a legislative consensus on how best to strengthen what currently works and
fix what is clearly broken will soon be reached. Doing nothing, we all agree, is not an option.
The coalition will work diligently with all of your support so that New Jersey will join nearly
every other state in ensuring that all EMS professionals, whether paid or volunteer, have the
qualifications and the training needed to meet the accepted and expected standard of care. Our
citizens and our patients deserve nothing less.
Thank you again for all of your support and please check our website www.supportnjems.com
or our Facebook page www.facebook.com/supportnjems frequently for updates and how you
can help this legislation become reality.