Gluesenkamp Perez’s Amendment Passes Committee to Address Corporate Consolidation in the Fire Truck and Emergency Vehicle Industry

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Recently, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's amendment to the FY26 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill to address corporate consolidation in the fire truck and emergency vehicle industry unanimously passed the House Appropriations committee on a bipartisan basis.

Specifically, the amendment urges the Federal Trade Commission to report to Congress on consolidation in the fire apparatus, ambulance, and emergency services market and its impact on the prices and wait times for local governments seeking to acquire this equipment.

"One thing I've heard over and over from first responders across Southwest Washington is how much the cost of emergency vehicles has increased. The older chiefs say that 25 years ago, a nice rig cost $250,000 - now it's a minimum of $1,000,000 for a truck, and you'll need to wait years for delivery. We saw in the deadly LA fires how these issues have impacted first responders' ability to respond in a crisis," said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. "Rob Gordon, the former mayor of Bucoda, was one of the first people to raise this to me. He told me how excruciating the wait times for delivery have become and how things become even more difficult if you need anything that isn't standard issue. I don't think corporations are just run by greedy suits, but it's important that we understand the federal government's role in this, because candidly most of the funding for these emergency apparatuses come from our tax dollars."

Earlier this year, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez passed a similar amendment through the Appropriations Committee to investigate corporate consolidation in the infant formula industry. She has also been outspoken about consolidation in the agricultural industry, most recently raising the issue in an interview with The Front Porch Republic.

A video of the Congresswoman's remarks in committee can be found here, and a full transcript is below:

"Two years ago, I had a mayor from one of my small towns come to me, Mayor Rob Gordon. He was looking for assistance to buy a fire truck. And, if you look at the data, you know, 25 years ago, you could get a pretty nice rig for $250K. Today it's over a million. And he was not able to do that on his own.

He was looking for help in pursuing that funding, and he had been a volunteer firefighter since he was 15 years old and unfortunately died of stomach cancer before the fire truck could be delivered. The consolidation that has happened in the fire truck and emergency vehicle apparatus industry is profound. It is, you'll see, like parts that used to be interchangeable are no longer interchangeable.

So you have to get a part delivered specially. Sometimes the shipping is more expensive than the part itself. And we can't ignore the elephant in the room. We need to look at the invisible junkyard that's been created. That has precipitated. It's estimated that 65 to 75% of the emergency vehicle industry has been consolidated by just three companies.

And that means that our taxpayers, our emergency responders, are left footing the bill on this. And so I'm very grateful for the inclusion in the manager's amendment. To understand and begin to look at what has led to the consolidation, whether we're talking about the regulatory environment that has made it so difficult for small businesses to stand up or the consolidation broadly.

So thank you. And with that, I yield back."

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