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Emergency Medical Services Educator's Association (NJEMSEA)
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"Save the EMT Training Fund" Campaign
On April 23, 2009 New Jersey Governor Corzine announced he would raid the EMT Training Fund for $4,000,000 to reallocate the funds to the general treasury in an attempt to relieve the budget crisis. This fund provides training monies for Volunteer EMT's and is a critical preparedness and retention tool for Volunteer EMS agencies.
The Problem
The EMT Fund does not have this type of surplus. This action would leave $400,000 in the EMT Training Fund as of 7/1/09. As-is with current expenditure, the EMT Fund spends $1,000,000 more than it takes in. This action would in effect discontinue the training for NJ Volunteer EMTs and force individuals (during a recession) to pay for their own training to donate their time to their communities. It's expected that many will not be able to afford it and will have to be replaced by paid providers (who cost much more than the training expenses the state is saving).
Why it's in particularly poor taste
The EMT fund is not tax money. It's a public trust created by legislature. Every time there is a moving violation in New Jersey, $0.50 is collected and placed into this fund to train EMT's. Raiding this fund to finance state spending is awful - if we can't trust the government with our Fund, who can we trust?
The Plan
The NJEMSEA has a plan, but it needs your help. We plan to appeal to the Governor's office, enlist other legislators' support, and mount a public action campaign to bring public attention to the issue.
What you can do
Whether you are an EMS interest organization, an EMS
delivery agency (squad), an EMS provider, or a concerned citizen, we need
your support. Here is what you can do:
DO THIS NOW!
EMAIL ONE OF THE SAMPLE LETTERS BELOW TO:
EVERY LEGISLATOR IN NJ WILL GET THE LETTER - URGE THEM TO SUPPORT KEEPING THE FUNDS IN THE EMT TRAINING FUND
WE NEED TO FLOOD THEIR EMAIL BOXES
WITH REQUESTS - DO IT NOW!
Letter Writting Campaign
EMS Organzations
1. Send us an email with your name, your organization
and a phone number to president@njemsea.org
so we can keep you informed of the game plan.
2. Contact your member organiztions and urge them to have each member
print and sign the INDIVIDUAL letter below and fax it to the NJEMSEA
legislative coordinator at 908-241-1433. Our legislative folks will
fax it to the governor's office, state senators, etc.
3. Follow up with them ask them
what kind of results they obtained (don't just send an email - this matter
requires personal involvement). Print the ORGANIZATION support
letter and fax it to te NJEMSEA coordinator at 908-241-1433.
EMS Delivery Agencies (Squads)
1. Send us an email with your name, your organization
and a phone number to president@njemsea.org
so we can keep you informed of the game plan.
2. Print the ORGANIZATION
support letter and fax it to te NJEMSEA coordinator at 908-241-1433.
Call the number below and tell them your organization needs help saving
your training dollars from an unintended fate.
3. Get your members involved. Print and have them sign the support
letter and have them fax it to 908-241-1433. Have them each call the
numbers below and tell their representatives that NJ's EMT's
needs their support. We need at least 10 members from each squad to
both fax a letter and call their legislators.
EMT's
1. Send us an email with your name, your organization
and a phone number to president@njemsea.org
so we can keep you informed of the game plan.
2. Get your family and friends to make calls on your behalf. We need to
keep the pressure up. If you call, plus 4 of your friends and family
call, we can give our legislators an idea of the clout NJ EMS really
has.
3. Print and sign the INDIVIDUAL
letter below and fax it to the NJEMSEA legislative coordinator at
908-241-1433.
Concerned Citizens
Your volunteer EMT's efforts help keep your taxes low
and help your community. If you support NJ's EMT's in this effort, make
sure your representatives know that.
1. Send us an email with your name, your organization and a phone number
to president@njemsea.org so we
can keep you informed of the game plan.
2. Get your family and friends to make calls on your behalf. We need to
keep the pressure up. If you call, plus 4 of your friends and family
call, we can give our legislators an idea of the clout NJ EMS really
has.
3. Print and sign the INDIVIDUAL
letter below and fax it to the NJEMSEA legislative coordinator at
908-241-1433.
People to call
Use these phone numbers in your
calling campaign:
Governor Corzine's Office: 609-292-6000
Tell his staff you DO NOT support the raiding of $4M from
the EMT Training Fund. Tell them that you urge the Governor to
replace those funds immediately. Tell them this matter will majorly
affect how you vote on this year's Governor's race (he's up for
reelection).
State Senators:
Call your state senators and assemblymen. Even though
they may not have anything direct to do with the raid of the Training
Fund, getting their support may get them to express their concerns to the
Governor. We need their help!
A list of state representatives can be found here: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/abcroster.asp
EMS Interest Organizational Letter
This letter is for organizations that represent EMS Interests (county EMS groups, Associations of EMT's, etc)
EMS Delivery Agency (Squad) Letter
This letter is for first aid squads, ambulance corps, and other EMS delivery agencies.
Individual EMT letter
This letter is for EMT's that don't want to the see the Training Fund raided.
Concerned Citizen Letter
This letter is for concerned citizens that want to tell their legislators to save the EMT Training Fund.
- Coordinators
- Callers
- Fax operators
Together we can save NJ's EMT Training Fund!