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House committee approves bill letting some fire departments change firefighter schedules
Summary
The committee voted to pass House Bill 131 as amended, a measure that would allow fire departments in certain former second-class cities to use alternative firefighter staffing schedules, while preserving collective bargaining agreements.
Representative Michael Meredith, sponsor of House Bill 131, told the committee the bill would give “flexibility to fire departments that were in what were former second class cities.”
The bill, as presented, would allow certain departments to adopt alternative duty rotations instead of the current strict on-24 off-48 schedule. Meredith described examples departments have considered, including an “on 48 off 96” rotation and a hybrid “1‑3‑2‑3” pattern, which he summarized as “an on 24 off 72 hour schedule you start with, and then you have an on 48 off 72.”
Meredith said the measure was limited in scope. “It does not affect any existing collective bargaining agreements and we were very clear on the legislation,” he told the committee, and he said the bill affects 13 cities across the Commonwealth.
There were no public sign-ups for or against the bill, and the committee voted to advance the measure. Committee members who recorded affirmative votes during the roll call included Representatives Bauman, Bray, Fleming, Freeland, Griffey, Hampton, Iams, Lewis, Meredith, Neighbors, Ramer, Whitten and Chairman Flannery. The committee clerk recorded 13 ayes; no no votes or abstentions were recorded in the roll call presented in the transcript. The chair announced the motion carried with favorable expression and that the bill “as amended should pass.”
Representative Meredith and representatives of stakeholder groups were present at the table for the item, including JD Cheney of the Kentucky League of Cities and Joe Baer, president of Kentucky Professional Firefighters. Neither organization registered opposition on the record during the committee proceeding shown in the transcript.
The committee substitute discussed at the start of the item was adopted by voice vote before the final passage vote.
Action on HB 131 means the affected former second‑class cities would be able to pursue alternative schedules where local departments request them; the bill, as described on the record, explicitly left existing collective bargaining agreements in place.
The committee moved to its next agenda item after the vote.
