Ambulance should be taxed for, lawmakers told
Emergency medical (or ambulance) service is not considered an essential service in Iowa thus cannot be taxed for. Jeremy McGrath, a paramedic who owns the privately held Chickasaw Ambulance Service, asked state lawmakers how to get a bill classifying EMS as a taxable “essential service” moved out of a Senate subcommittee and into consideration.Lawmakers present were Sen. Waylon Brown, a Republican from St. Ansgar and Rep. Todd Prichard, a Democrat from Charles City.“If you had a heart attack right now and are lying on the ground, by law, there’s nothing that requires anybody to provide ambulance services in our counties,” McGrath said.For more of this story, see the March 23 New Hampton Tribune.