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Governor Corzine has withdrawn $4,000,000 from the EMT Training Fund in an effort to balance the State Budget. This withdrawal will leave $400,000 in the fund as of 7/1/09. This fund does not have a surplus - in fact, the fund expends more than it takes in every year. This action on the fund impacts us significantly, since without these funds EMTs will have to pay for required training and continuing education classes out of pocket. In this economy, we expect many will not be able to finance their education, and will stop volunteering. This will seriously affect our staffing and threatens our ability to operate. We simply may not be able to provide reliable service without the well-trained staff financed by the fund.
This action by the Governor is especially unfair because:
● The EMT Training Fund is NOT tax money - it is a public trust created by legislature by taking $0.50 from each moving violation, and dedicating those funds to training EMTs.
● The 2007 $400,000 study commissioned by the Department of Health said the Fund was critical to the health of NJ's Emergency Medical Services and recommended expanding it.
● Replacing volunteer EMTs with paid staff will cost municipalities tens of thousands of dollars per year. Reallocating the dedicated training funds will have dire effects on municipal budgets.
Additional information - On page 60 of the FY 2010 Budget in Brief, the Governor provides a comparison of the use of non-recurring resources from FY 2003 through FY 2010. This chart was the first indication that the Governor would be taking $4 million of the EMT Training Fund balances. According to the proposed budget, the fund will generate $2.15 million in revenue during FY 2010 while spending $3.248 million. At the end of the year, after drawing from surplus to balance revenues and expenditures, the Fund will have $27,000 remaining.
Special thanks to Assemblymen Carroll and Merkt and Senator Bucco who personally pledged their support to save our training fund.
What can you do to help??
Join the Facebook Cause - Click Here
Contact Gov. Corzine and tell him that it's wrong for him to raid the EMT Training Fund
E-Mail - http://www.state.nj.us/governor/about/contact/
Postal Address - Office of the Governor, PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone - 609-292-6000
Contact State Legislators and urge them to contact Gov. Corzine and reject the budget if it makes it to a vote.
E-Mail Form - http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp
Direct E-Mail Addresses (Excel document download)
Sample Letters (in Word format):
Letter from a concerned citizen
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Captain at captain@morristownambulance.org.