Committee backs moving state forestry firefighters into existing retirement plans

Kelly Norris, the Wyoming state forester, told the Joint Appropriations Committee that House Bill 34 would move forestry conservation program employees into the law-enforcement retirement plan and enroll full-time and temporary wildland firefighters in the Wyoming National Guard firefighter retirement plan to make firefighter compensation more competitive and improve retention. "What this does is, help provide competitive benefits to make firefighter retention a lot more competitive within the state of Wyoming," Norris said.

David Swindell, executive director of the Wyoming retirement system, was introduced alongside Norris and the committee received a handout comparing federal benefits and other Western states' approaches. Jason Coy, Laramie County Fire Authority fire chief, representing the Bridal Firefighters Association and the Wyoming Fire Chiefs Association, said the changes would help Wyoming compete with neighboring states in recruiting and keeping firefighters. "This bill helps the Wyoming State Forestry be competitive in our community," Coy said.

The committee proceeded to a roll-call vote on the engrossed bill. Individual recorded responses in the transcript were: Senator Driscoll — aye; Senator French — no; Senator Gru — aye; Senator Larson — aye; Chairman Salazar — aye. The transcript includes an inconsistent summary line in the clerk's announcement; the recorded individual votes above are presented as stated aloud in the hearing.

The committee recommended the bill do pass (engrossed) and forwarded it with the recorded roll-call votes for consideration by the full Legislature. The committee did not attach additional implementation directions in the transcript; questions about precise enrollment timing and employer contribution logistics were not part of the record provided.