A city official reacts to a bill dying
LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – “Not only my emotions but the emotions of people across the fire services are that of disappointment,” said Robert Hutto, Louisville Fire Chief. “We have worked so hard for so long to try and get these bills through.”
Louisville Fire Chief Robert Hutto is devastated about hearing the news of the tier five bill dying in this year’s legislative session.
March first is when the new PERS Tier started. It increases the number of working years for retirement from 30 to 35 and provides no cost-of-living adjustments.
“Now you go to work until you are 60 years old,” said Hutto. “When you are putting on all these gears fighting these fires, our bodies cannot hold up to it.”
Hutto said his department and others have already been feeling the effects of the changes.
“We have actually been seeing the issue for several months,” said Hutto. “We currently have two open slots here. We started trying to hire one several months ago. We used to get 5 to 15 applicants, and we had one to show up for the physical test.”
That is not the only thing that died in the Senate. Hutto told WCBI that House Bill 300 died, and it was meant to bring funds to four Winston County Fire Departments.
“Those funds go to buy equipment and airpacks,” said Hutto. “A lot of these volunteer departments are having fundraisers just to keep the lights on. The funds just are not there. That type of bill would have gone a long way in improving our community service.”
In spite of the legislative disappointments, Winston County Firefighters and other public service workers are not losing hope.
“We are hoping that maybe they can bring it back and do something this session,” said Hutto. “If not, we are hoping they stay on it and are able to bring it back. We are disappointed but still holding out hope that they will do the right thing and make it right.”
According to Mississippitoday.org, PERS covers about 350,000 current public employees or retirees, which is about ten percent of the state’s population.
