ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor                             Ch. 385

(c)     The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House jointly shall
appoint the co-chairs from the Senate and House members appointed to the
Committee.

(d)     The Committee shall be staffed by the Department of Legislative Services.

(e)     In conducting its study of, and making recommendations about, the
structure and funding of the State's emergency medical response system the
Committee shall review:

(1)     the current and projected fund balances in the Maryland Emergency
Medical System Operations Fund (MEMSOF);

(2)     current planning efforts for the use of funds in the MEMSOF;

(3)     the long-term operating and capital needs for Level I, II, and III
trauma centers in the State;

(4)     the funding needs of first responders, firefighters, and emergency
medical personnel;

(5)     incentives for illness prevention, injury reduction, and appropriate
use of the trauma system;

(6)     the ability of current funding mechanisms to meet the needs of the
State's emergency medical response system;

(7)     the availability of federal funds for homeland security and
bioterrorism response and the ability of those funds to meet the needs of the State's
emergency medical response system;

(8)     oversight and accountability for use of funds in the MEMSOF;

(9)     methods used by other states to meet their emergency medical
response needs;

(10)   the current use of the Maryland State Police helicopters and the
potential for the use of private helicopter companies for emergency medical response
and inter-hospital transport;

(11)   the issues related to the licensing of commercial air ambulances;

(12)   plans to finance the replacement of the Maryland State Police
helicopters;

(13)   the purposes for which funds, appropriated in the annual State
budget from MEMSOF for fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, were used
by each entity for which an appropriation was made during those fiscal years; and

(14)   the structure of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical
Services Systems (MIEMSS) and how MIEMSS functions within the State's
emergency medical response system.

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