This article is about upcoming efforts to make all employees pay 5% of their salary into VRS.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/dec/12/tdmain01-public-employees-may-have-to-pay-full-pen-ar-710151/
http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2010/oct/26/city-council-adds-retirement-legislative-agenda-ar-588992/
The Virginian Pilot Editorial
State and local governments spar over "unfunded mandates" every year. But a battle over benefits for public safety workers killed or injured on the job takes on an urgency that eclipses the typical squabble over financial responsibilities.
Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers recognize that a change in funding for "line of duty" benefits could endanger the financial stability of their families as well as their communities. They are asking state legislators to reconsider that decision this winter before the change takes effect.
Legislators should grant their request.
The Line of Duty Act provides $100,000 to families of public safety workers killed in catastrophic events such as a shooting or vehicle crash. Deaths from certain heart and lung ailments qualify for $25,000 in benefits. The General Assembly expanded the program in 1998 to include health insurance for injured workers and their families as well as surviving spouses and children. The program covered 201 state workers and dependents and 499 local employees in 2009 at a cost of $7.4 million.
Because the program was a state initiative, the legislature has historically paid for all benefits. However, lawmakers voted this year to shift the obligation for local employees onto the cities and counties they serve. Not only was that decision unfair, but it raises serious concerns about the future of the program.
"The concern we have is there may be some disparity in funding from locality to locality," said Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. "The loss is the same whether you have a Fairfax County officer or a little tiny town's officer."
Indeed, the death of one officer in a small town or a few deputies in a rural county could be devastating to that community's budget.
Tough budget years often yield bad budget decisions, many of which cannot easily be fixed.
The Line of Duty Act, however, requires a relatively small sum to repair a serious breach in trust. The Line of Duty Act is a commitment that was made by state leaders, and it should be kept.
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