A proposal for fair retirement age changes for California firefighters | Opinion

Firefighters begin their careers strong, energized and ready to serve. But after years of emergency calls, sleepless nights and repeated exposure to toxic environments, the long-term toll becomes undeniable. Recovery slows, injuries linger and the cumulative effects of the job don’t go away — they build over time.

Firefighters today have a higher call volume, face more hazards and work in environments filled with materials that produce toxic smoke and carcinogens than they did 15 years ago. In 2022, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogen, the most dangerous level of cancer risk.

For many firefighters, cancer isn’t a question of if — it’s when. Every additional year on the job means more cumulative exposures, and their impacts are well-documented.

However, crews who stand shoulder to shoulder on the same dangerous response to a fire or other natural disaster end up with vastly different retirements. For example, firefighters hired prior to 2013 often reach normal retirement age at 50, whereas those hired on or after January 1, 2013, have a normal retirement age of 57.

Now, Assembly Bill 1383, a proposal currently working through the California Legislature, closes that gap and brings fairness to the people who risk their lives for this state by making targeted adjustments to the retirement law that applies to all public employees hired on or after January 1, 2013. Authored by Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, the bill does so in a measured, responsible way by aligning retirement policy with the conditions firefighters face in the field.

Contrary to recent claims, AB 1383 does not undo the reforms established under the 2013 Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA). This bill makes forward-looking adjustments to reflect today’s realities in the fire service: no retroactive benefits, required cost-sharing and local control through collective bargaining.

Firefighters are already required by law to pay 50% of the contribution to the normal cost of their pensions. AB 1383 does not change that. Any adjustments made under the bill are prospective — shared investments between employees and employers, not unfunded mandates placed on taxpayers.

Additionally, AB 1383 allows firefighters to have a normal retirement age of 55 instead of 57. Two years may seem small on paper, but in practice they are not. Those are the years when injuries take longer to heal, and when the cumulative effects of toxic exposure become more serious.

This is not about whether a 56-year-old firefighter can still do the job — many can. The question is whether firefighters should have to remain in one of the most physically taxing professions longer than is safe.

When lives are on the line, and someone’s loved one is trapped in a burning building, communities depend on firefighters operating at their best. Experience matters, but the job’s physical toll is real.

AB 1383 allows firefighters to plan their futures, reduce prolonged exposures to hazards and leave the job healthier. It also helps fire departments manage long-term costs by reducing late-career work-related injuries, costly disability retirements and occupational illnesses.

The reforms enacted under PEPRA have already produced significant savings for employers — $5.8 billion in the first decade — with an additional $26.5 billion projected in the next. AB 1383 builds on that foundation.

This is not a return to past policies. It is a targeted adjustment that reflects current conditions and preserves fiscal discipline.

Doing nothing has consequences on firefighters who face significant dangers each shift: higher injury rates, increased job-related cancer claims, staffing shortages and the growing reliance on mandatory overtime when experienced yet injured firefighters can no longer report for their assigned shifts.

After decades of showing up for strangers on their worst days, AB 1383 offers something simple: the chance to step away while still healthy.

Jeremy Gardella is the director of Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522.

This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A proposal for fair retirement age changes for California firefighters | Opinion."