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Posted October 11, 2007 The full Governing Management Letter | Subscribe to The Governing Management Letter Bonus columns: GIRARD MILLER’S BENEFITS BEAT Lessons from the Wildfires The federal financial role in first response Questions, success stories or anecdotes about benefit issues in government? We all have a moment in life that is transformational. Mine was a few days ago, when the Southern California wildfires came within 400 yards of destroying my home as neighbors and I watched valiant firefighting helicopter pilots save our neighborhood. Despite all the second-guessing in the media, the public safety officers at the top echelon made shrewd, strategic lifesaving decisions to close down the coastal highway and ran the most impressive paramilitary operation I've seen in my life. And I'm a former city manager who's witnessed plenty of action before. 
I have also watched firefighter unions nickel and dime their cities over petty union rules, and win arbitration cases that they didn't deserve. And I've seen cops asleep on the job and standing around shooting the bull at public expense. So I've sometimes been a skeptic of public-safety compensation and benefits over the years. But when I see the governor of California try to claim that the state was "doing everything it could," while the news reports indicate that the state has a hundred fire trucks on bureaucratic back order, and the president of the United States making vacuous claims to "not forget" the first responders, I can't contain myself any longer. In emergencies like Hurricane Katrina and the California wildfires, the federal government needs to have a much stronger first-response force ready to work with the same efficiency as Green Berets and Navy Seals. In California, the firefighters' mutual assistance network is truly awesome to watch in action, but we can still do better. Our nation deserves to have the capacity to swing a group of first responders to action on a moment's notice. And they don't need to be federal employees who sit around playing poker waiting for the next crisis. They should be fully trained state and local government first responders in unaffected locales, who are ready to jump on an airplane or emergency apparatus and get to the scene of action in two to three hours or less — at the expense of the federal government and not local municipalities.
Congress has already reached into our taxpayer pockets to award a standing $300,000 death benefit to the survivors of public-safety officers killed on duty. But this country must do more to compensate its heroes than simply to remember them posthumously. We can federalize the costs of overtime and related benefits when major events of national scope like these require extraordinary and heroic responses. This would be one issue on which local elected officials, public managers and union leaders could all agree. Step One: In designated national emergencies like these, pay overtime at double-time rates to local and mutual-assistance first responders at the expense of the federal taxpayers, by act of Congress. That will make the president's promise mean something, while relieving local taxpayers of the burden of paying for superhuman responses while they rebuild their communities and their infrastructure. Step Two: Establish a national defined-contribution retirement system for first responders who obtain the requisite training and serve sufficient hours to justify a supplemental retirement and health benefits package. This will take the pressure off local taxpayers, and ensure that the superhuman work is properly rewarded. And I would suggest that generous contribution rates should apply, something like 20 percent of their earned double-time emergency pay going into a special retirement and lifetime health benefits account to be spent tax-free in recognition of their heroic public service. A national VEBA trust fund (similar to the UAW structure) with competent trustees chosen from the ranks of public safety and municipal management might provide a flexible structure that could be used for other extraordinary compensation purposes. Step Three: Get this compensation out of the local payroll. These are national emergencies and should be national expenses. There is no question that life-and-death protection is more important than farm subsidies to rice or sugar growers, or oil depletion allowances. There is no need to pay a lifetime pension benefit to a handful of first responders who happen to be "lucky" enough to serve during an emergency within three years of retirement, while all others who perform the same service earlier in their career would only pay a higher pension contribution without receiving any benefit. This is where traditional defined-benefit plans fail entirely, because it's a random payoff and ignores cumulative sacrifices. So when the president of the United States again promises to our valiant firefighters that "we in Washington will not forget you," I will gladly step forward and offer a realistic way to deliver on that promise. And thank you, again, Los Angeles County police and firefighters, and the dozens of other mutual-aid responders. My house still stands today because of you. Last month: Girard Miller, an analyst of benefits and investments with 30 years of experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, can be reached at Girardinmalibu@charter.net. © 2007, Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Governing, City & State and Governing.com are registered trademarks of Congressional Quarterly, Inc. |
