Legislation that would allow have local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers will be continued to 2025, thus ending any chances for the enactment of this legislation for the year. HB 38 (Clark), HB 300 (Ballard), and HB 630 (Cherry) would have provided that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2025, but would have allowed an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2025, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bills had a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.
SB 328 (Jordan) and SB 472 (Obenshain), which were the Senate versions of the House bills were also continued to 2025 on February 6th, by the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on a vote of 12-3.
A separate set of bills for other employee groups were also continued to 2025.
HB 231 (Campbell) would have added animal control officers to the list of local employees eligible to receive enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service. Under current law, localities may provide such benefits to first responders, including firefighters and emergency medical technicians, and certain other hazardous duty positions.
HB 1438 (Wiley) would have required each political subdivision participating in the Virginia Retirement System and each county or city participating in the Virginia Retirement System to provide retirement benefits comparable to the benefits provided to state police officers to juvenile detention specialists.
VACo staff worked with 911 dispatch employee group representatives prior to the session and testified to thank those groups and the bill patrons who ensured that these bills remained a local option and not an unfunded mandate.
VACo Contact: Jeremy R. Bennett