Ohio House approves police pension bill, sends to state Senate

The Ohio House of Representatives voted Wednesday to approve a bill increasing the contribution municipalities must make to the state police and fire pension fund. House Bill 296, which was approved by a vote of 66 to 25, would require municipalities to increase their annual pension contribution from 19.5 percent of an officers salary to 24 percent over six years. The bill will now move on to the Senate, where it needs to be approved through committee and passed by the Senate as a whole. The bill would then need to be signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. This process must be completed before the end of the year or the bill will expire and would need to restart the legislative process in one of the two chambers. "We are thrilled that we're at the point where we are, with two-thirds of the House supporting (HB 296) in a bipartisan fashion," said Ohio Fraternal Order of Police President Jay McDonald, a proponent of the bill. "We're on to the Senate, and we'll keep working." The version of the bill in the House would increase the contribution municipalities make to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund gradually over six years until it reaches 24 percent, the same amount at which the firefighters pension contribution rate is set. Police officers and firefighters already receive the same benefits from the pension fund, the difference is only in the employer's contribution to the fund. Mayors of municipalities across the state, including Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker, gathered in Columbus on Monday to oppose the bill, arguing that the increase would overburden their budgets, potentially leading them to cut services and hire fewer officers. "I agree with my colleagues here this afternoon that there has to be additional conversation (and) continued discussion," Brubaker said during the OMA news conference in Columbus on Monday. "And it needs to include the mayors, the townships, the trustees of all of our communities in the state of Ohio to make this thing work. I am not against increasing (the pension contribution) but there could be ways of increasing this that are not going to devastate police departments, fire departments and communities." Proponents of the bill argue that for too long first responders have shouldered an unfair proportion of keeping the pension fund strong. McDonald said that officers saw their own contribution percentage increase from 10 percent to 12.25 percent in 2013 and have stomached more than $3 billion in benefit cuts since then, while the employers' contribution has remained unchanged since 1986. "This is our number one priority because retirement security is a promise that's been made to our members from the day they raised their right hand and swore an oath to protect and serve their community," McDonald said. "The way to have a secure and stable pension is to pass this bill, and we're looking forward to working with our senators to make this happen." The Ohio Mayor's Alliance, which Brubaker joined in opposing the bill, has said if HB 296 passes in its current form, it would increase the contribution of Ohio municipalities to the pension fund by nearly $80 million. Municipalities already pay $300 million into the fund every year. Multiple mayors have said the increase in cost would lead to cuts in other city services and a need to seek additional tax levies from residents. Brubaker said that the annual cost of the final increase to a 24 percent contribution would cost Elyria $1.5 million annually. State Rep. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, told The Chronicle-Telegram on Tuesday that though she sympathized with mayors facing a new budget issue, the state needed to ensure that the pension fund was secure for the future. She said that the Legislature needed to have continued discussions about how to help municipalities afford and adapt to the change. Several amendments to help communities pay for the rising contribution were put forward Wednesday before the floor vote on HB 296, by both Democrats and Republicans, but all were tabled. Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, proposed adding $23 million to the state's local government fund to help municipalities pay for the increase. She argued that over the past decade the local government fund had been cut by 50 percent, and that those cuts had fallen upon homeowners across the state. "Every time those cuts happen, it is property owners who are picking up the tab," Sweeney said. Majority Floor Leader Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, argued that the state had more than made up for local government fund cuts in other ways, and that it was important for the state to "stay out of the business" of funding state pensions. Seitz also opposed a funding amendment from fellow Republican Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Township. Williams proposed reallocating funds from the state's tax on recreational marijuana to help fund the contribution bump. Again, Seitz said he was not comfortable with the state funding the pension fund for any amount of time and he added that unilaterally allocating cannabis funds "in the 11th hour," with no input from the Senate was improper. With no amendments made on the floor, HB 296 passed Wednesday and is now in the hands of the Senate. After Wednesday, the state Senate only has four more legislative days scheduled this session, two committee hearing days and two full sessions, so the body will need to move quickly to move the legislation forward before the end of the year. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.