This bill expands Minnesota's assault laws to protect firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and hospital emergency department staff from physical attacks. Under the new provisions, physically assaulting these workers while they are performing their duties would be classified as a gross misdemeanor, while assaults causing demonstrable bodily harm would be elevated to a felony punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of $6,000. The changes apply to municipal and volunteer firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, and physicians, nurses, or other healthcare workers working in hospital emergency departments. The legislation takes effect on August 1, 2026, and applies only to crimes committed on or after that date.
HF 810 increases criminal penalties for assaulting firefighters, EMS personnel, and healthcare workers in hospital emergency departments. It amends Minnesota law to upgrade assaults causing demonstrable bodily harm from a gross misdemeanor (max 2 years jail/$4,000 fine) to a felony (max 3 years jail/$6,000 fine). The bill directly affects individuals who assault these emergency responders during their duties or hospital emergency staff providing care. The changes take effect August 1, 2025, applying to crimes committed on or after that date.
HF 696 establishes a $3 million one-time payment program to reimburse rural ambulance services for uncompensated emergency medical responses. It directly affects licensed ambulance providers operating primarily outside Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan counties who provided emergency care without receiving payment. The program calculates payments using a point system (10 points for first 25 responses, decreasing to 1 point for 101-200 responses) based on eligible EMS responses meeting specific criteria (e.g., initiated via public safety answering point, no transport to hospital, no prior payment). Payments, totaling $3 million, will be distributed to qualifying providers by May 30, 2026, based on the total points awarded across all applicants.
This bill provides state funding to support ambulance services in rural or low-population areas. It authorizes $15 million annually (2026-2027) to pay eligible ambulance providers with 30 or fewer emergency calls per square mile. Aid is calculated in three parts: 20% equally distributed, 40% based on service area size (capped at 1,200 square miles), and 40% based on a tiered point system for emergency responses. Recipients must spend funds within two years on licensed ambulance services within their primary service area and submit annual usage reports.
