Town Hall Meeting on Legislative Session: Update on Federal Government activities/NYSVARA Policy Agenda
- hboname
- Jan 2
- 3 min read
From the NYS Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Association:
Please join us on the evening of Thursday, January 8 at 7:00 PM for a NYSVARA ZOOM Town Hall Meeting to review outcomes from 2025 NYS Legislative Session, get an update on federal government EMS activities, and preview the NYSVARA 2026 Public Policy Agenda.
NYSVARA Town Hall Meeting on Legislative Issues
Meeting ID: 854 5149 3091
Passcode: 337715
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We hope that you can join us on January 8th for this public policy discussion.
On December 19, Governor Hochul took the final actions of the 2025 legislative year when she signed Senate bill 7501-A into law and vetoed Assembly bill 2177-A.
· S7501-A directs counties to develop and maintain comprehensive county emergency medical system plans.
· A2177-A would exempt EMS from the calculations of the limit on municipal property tax levies (tax cap).
The County EMS Planning law requires each county, in coordination with their Regional Emergency Medical Services Council REMSCO), to convene a planning process with cities, towns, and villages within their jurisdiction to develop and maintain a comprehensive county emergency medical system plan that shall describe how coordinated and reliable emergency medical services within the county will be provided to all residents. In the Governor’s approval message, she stated it is important that the Department of Health develop guidance for the counties in the development of their plans and have a meaningful chance to review and provide feedback on the plans. In anticipation of the signing of this legislation into law, the State EMS Council (SEMSCO) Legislative Subcommittee has been working on a guidance document to assist counties that should be released shortly. NYSVARA and United NY Ambulance Network (UNYAN) representatives were substantial contributors to the guidance document.
NYSVARA strongly advocated for the signing of the Tax Cap Bill and is disappointed in its veto. The Governor’s veto message indicated the bill could lead to higher property taxes imposed on homeowners and businesses in communities throughout the state. This bill would have been the first exception to the 2% property tax cap and precedent setting if signed into law. While this bill was a high priority of the NYS Association of Towns and NYSVARA, interests defending the integrity of the tax cap were influential in its veto.
We made some progress on other public policy issues in 2025, especially on workforce. Recruitment, retention, and Paramedic scholarship monies are now available to the regional program agencies. The SUNY and CUNY re-connect program makes tuition-free Paramedic training available to New Yorkers between the ages of 25 and 55 who do not have a college degree.
At the federal level, Medicare add-on payments to ambulance services were extended by Congress through the tumult of 2025 and now expire at the end of January 2026. Work is underway with our colleagues at NAEMT and AAA to extend them indefinitely.
We also continue working to get necessary CMS approvals to allow the 2024 NYS Medicaid Treat-in-Place law implemented. NYS asked CMS for approval in December 2024, and CMS has not acted to date.
Governor Hochul will deliver her State of the State Address, which will be followed by the release of the 2026-2027 NYS Executive Budget on January 13. The State of State and Executive Budget allow the Governor to articulate her priorities for state policy change and budget funding. It is not yet known if the Governor will include a section on emergency medical services in the Executive Budget.
NYSVARA has released its 2026 public policy agenda, which can be found on the on the NYSVARA website at https://nysvara.org/ourAgenda.html. NYSVARA will continue advocating for fair payment for ambulance services, polices that support volunteerism in EMS, modernization of the EMS system, and initiatives to address the EMS workforce shortage.
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