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Firefighters and police unions press for pension equity, training funding and PTSD support in HB 96
Summary
Representatives of the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters and Fraternal Order of Police asked the committee to adopt proposals to shore up the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, add employer contributions incrementally, protect pension COLAs, fund regional training and create a PTSD compensation fund.
Union leaders for firefighters and police urged the House Public Safety Committee to address pension funding, recruit-and-retain proposals, and training resources in the state budget.
Bill Quinn, representing the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters and a retired Hamilton firefighter, told the committee that past pension reforms reduced benefits, raised employee contribution rates and increased retirement ages; he urged lawmakers to include previously proposed incremental employer contribution increases (cited in testimony as 0.75 percent per year over six years in earlier bills) in the current budget to stabilize the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund and safeguard recruitment and retention.
Mike Weinman, director of government affairs for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, supported the pension measures and also testified in favor of arming certain unarmed officers who work at state behavioral-health and developmental-disability facilities (testimony said those officers are OPTC-certified but currently not permitted to carry weapons while working grounds/patient-escort duties). Weinman also asked the committee to consider legislation establishing deferred retirement options for law enforcement (house bill referenced in testimony as HB 73) and to resolve long-pending administrative details for a PTSD compensation fund created by statute but not yet funded.
Both witnesses urged investment in regional training capacity. Weinman cautioned against creating a redundant centralized training agency; he recommended strengthening existing regional academies and a dedicated funding stream for continuing law-enforcement education. Quinn and other committee members discussed proposals to stagger employer contributions to help local governments manage costs and suggested coupling employer-share changes with local-government revenue support.
Committee members and witnesses debated potential funding mechanisms (including an actuarial funding approach) and emphasized that long-term pension solvency was linked to recruitment, retention and public-safety readiness. Witnesses asked the committee to preserve or advance previously considered pension amendments and to add funding for training and PTSD support.
