Topeka ? A legislative panel Friday recommended the establishment of a voluntary emergency response force but declined to endorse a state militia.

Members of the House-Senate Committee on Kansas Security said they would write legislation to set up the force for consideration of the Legislature, which starts its 2008 session in January.

Members of the committee said recent disasters, including this week’s ice storm, have illustrated the need to augment local and state emergency responders.

“Resources at the local level get stretched,” said state Rep. Lee Tafanelli, R-Ozawkie.

Tafanelli said if the state faced a pandemic or other statewide emergency, “That’s not the time to think, ‘Boy, we should’ve done this.'”

Under the proposal, volunteers would be trained by the Kansas Adjutant General Department to help during emergencies. They wouldn’t receive pay, unless called to duty, committee members said. How much pay they would receive while on duty hasn’t been worked out.

Members of the force would wear some kind of uniform, but they would not carry guns or have police powers, the committee recommended.

Earlier this year, the committee considered a proposal that would have set up a militia-type force that would have been trained in law enforcement and provided arms.

But the startup cost of $3.5 million was seen as too high. The Kansas National Guard testified against that proposal.