ST. PAUL, Minn. — In the early hours of Tuesday, May 7, the Minnesota Senate passed HF 5237, the Education supplemental budget bill. The bill included a provision authored by Senator Aric Putnam (DFL-St. Cloud) to provide a $250,000 grant to St. Cloud Area School District to construct an emergency medical services (EMS) education facility at Apollo High School.
“There is an EMS crisis in central Minnesota,” said Senator Putnam. “The best way to address this crisis is to implement an EMS training facility in our school district to give students a pathway towards EMS careers directly out of high school. I have been working with our friends at CentraCare, Mayo Clinic, and the St. Cloud Area School District to make this program a reality.”
The provision, included in the Senate Education supplemental budget bill, would address the current shortage of EMS workers, and help train and prepare high school students to fill these jobs. The funding for the St. Cloud EMS facility is unique to the Senate Education supplemental budget bill. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 34-30 and will now move to a conference committee.
Vice Chair of the Higher Education Committee. He serves on the Jobs and Economic Development Committee and Taxes Committee.
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