The bill would amend the Penal Code to include emergency room personnel, as defined by the bill, for purposes of enhancing the punishment prescribed for the offense of assault.  Under the provisions of the bill, assault would be enhanced to a felony of the third degree if the offense is committed against certain emergency room personnel providing services in that capacity. If the actor is a patient and the emergency room personnel assaulted has not received certain de-escalation training the offense would be punishable as a Class A misdemeanor.

 
A Class A Misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year and/or a fine not to exceed $4,000. A felony of the third degree is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
 
Expanding the list of people for which the penalty for their assault is enhanced is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties and or of the State due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jail, state jail or prison.  However, in the case of this bill, it is assumed that the number of offenders convicted under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.