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OPPOSE SINGLE-WAY-OUT LEGISLATION THAT THREATENS SAFETY <br />OPPOSE THREATS TO BUILDING CODE, SPRINKLERS AND LOCAL CONTROL <br />Please contact us if you have any questions:Chief BJ Jungmann, Legislative Chair at legislative@msfca.org <br />The 2024 legislative session resulted in a requirement for the Department of Labor and Industry to create a Single-Egress Stairway <br />Apartment Building Report, which must consult the Minnesota Fire Chiefs Association and the Fire Marshals Association of Minnesota <br />along with other groups. This Technical Advisory Group met twice during 2025 and the study must be completed by December 31, <br />2025. MNFAC strongly opposes changes, through legislation or the rulemaking process, to single-egress stairway requirements that <br />jeopardize the safety of Minnesotans or compromise the ability for the fire service to adequately respond to fires and other emergency <br />situations. MNFAC supports a collaborative approach that engages state agency professionals and industry experts in creating, writing, <br />and preserving codes and rules that ensure safety and security for all Minnesotans. <br />MNFAC is deeply committed to ensuring Minnesotans are safe in their homes. We remain opposed to any attempts to remove or alter <br />building codes and regulations that ensure residential safety. We will continue to monitor proposed group home and assisted living <br />legislation impacting fire safety and access to vulnerable residents. MNFAC also continues to oppose any efforts to statutorily limit the <br />use of residential sprinklers, which save lives in a cost-effective way, and efforts to limit local governments from enacting requirements <br />beyond the State Building Code. We support the preservation of local decision making authority that allows local governments to best <br />protect their communities. <br />Under current law, Paid Family and Medical Leave requirements apply to paid on-call and volunteer firefighters. This is anticipated to <br />create numerous administrative challenges and was not a program designed to fit the unique nature of volunteer firefighting roles. Similar <br />to the exemption established during the 2024 legislative session for Earned Sick and Safe Time, MNFAC supports clarifying the PFML <br />law to exempt paid on-call and volunteer firefighters from the requirements of the law. <br />CLARIFY PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE REQUIREMENTS <br />EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS) LOCAL CONTROL <br />In February 2022, the Office of the Legislative Auditor released a report that found serious deficiencies with both the management of the <br />EMSRB and the current ambulance service license process. In response, the 2024 legislature passed a law to transition the EMSRB into <br />a new Office of Emergency Medical Services. As part of this office, MNFAC and its associations are allowed certain appointments on the <br />various advisory councils to guide the office. MNFAC will continue to be engaged with the OEMS and relevant stakeholders of emergency <br />medical services. MNFAC supports the ability of local governments to set standards for EMS services in their communities. If current <br />providers are not meeting those metrics, MNFAC supports legislation that allows local governments to find another provider that can.