1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to health; establishing a rural ambulance service staffing grant program; 
1.3 	appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.4 	144E.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [144E.51] RURAL AMBULANCE SERVICE STAFFING GRANT 
1.7 	PROGRAM.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Definition. For purposes of this section, "rural ambulance service" means 
1.9 	an ambulance service whose primary service area is mainly located outside the metropolitan 
1.10 	counties listed in section 473.121, subdivision 4, and outside the cities of Duluth, Mankato, 
1.11 	Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.
1.12 		Subd. 2.Grant program. (a) The board shall establish and administer a program to 
1.13 	award grants to eligible rural ambulance services for certain rural ambulance service staffing 
1.14 	costs.
1.15 	(b) In administering the grant program, the board shall coordinate with the boards of the 
1.16 	regional emergency medical services systems in the state.
1.17 		Subd. 3.Eligible rural ambulance services. In order to be eligible for a grant under 
1.18 	this section, a rural ambulance service must:
1.19 	(1) be publicly owned or be organized as or owned by a nonprofit corporation; and
1.20 	(2) in the calendar year prior to the year the rural ambulance service first applies for a 
1.21 	grant, have had at least 60 percent of its ambulance service staffing provided by volunteer 
1.22 	ambulance attendants.
2.1 		Subd. 4.Application. An eligible rural ambulance service seeking a grant under this 
2.2 	section must apply to the board in a form and manner specified by the board and according 
2.3 	to timelines established by the board. In its application, the rural ambulance service must 
2.4 	specify the number of personnel it plans to hire using grant money, the number of hours 
2.5 	per week it plans to staff the ambulance service using grant money, and other information 
2.6 	required by the board.
2.7 		Subd. 5.Allowable uses of grant money; maximum grant amount. (a) A rural 
2.8 	ambulance service must use grant money awarded under this section only for the salary and 
2.9 	benefits costs of EMTs, AEMTs, and paramedics to staff the rural ambulance service for 
2.10 	up to 168 hours per week at a rate that, for fiscal year 2024, must not exceed $26 per 
2.11 	employee per hour.
2.12 	(b) The grant amount awarded to a rural ambulance service must not exceed the amount 
2.13 	needed for the costs in paragraph (a).
2.14 	(c) For fiscal year 2025 and each subsequent fiscal year, the board shall adjust the hourly 
2.15 	rate in paragraph (a) for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers 
2.16 	for the previous calendar year.
2.17 		Subd. 6.Grant program oversight. Rural ambulance services receiving a grant under 
2.18 	this section must provide the board with information necessary for the board to administer 
2.19 	and evaluate the grant program.

2.20 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION; RURAL AMBULANCE SERVICE STAFFING GRANT 
2.21 	PROGRAM.
 2.22 	$20,000,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2025 are appropriated 
2.23 	from the general fund to the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board for the rural 
2.24 	ambulance service staffing grant program under Minnesota Statutes, section 144E.51.