CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- An advocate of a bill to increase disability retirement pay for police officers and firefighters severely hurt while on duty said Monday that cost-related criticism of the plan amounted to ''baloney.''
Ron Dreher, government affairs director for the Peace Officers Research Association, added SB145 covers ''the cost of doing business'' in Nevada, which he said is injured officers or firefighters who have served their community but can no longer work after a serious injury.
''This is for people that put their life on the line. They put their life on the line every day. Unfortunately, bad things do happen,'' said Bobby Kintzel, a Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper who was run over by a suspect fleeing police in April 2001. ''We protect you and we put our lives on the line. If this happens, I want this (compensation) to be higher.''
Kintzel went through rehabilitation for months and will likely not be able to continue to work for the NHP after a contract he has as a motivational speaker runs out in April 2006.
Without the bill's passage, Kintzel will get only about 25 percent of his pay, or $14,400 a year, for his 10 years of service.
''You can't put a dollar figure on what this man (Kintzel) went through,'' Dreher told the Senate Finance Committee, adding that it was an insult that others complained about the costs of the bill.
SB145, sponsored by Sen. Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, would guarantee police and firefighters who suffer catastrophic injuries 50 percent of the pay they were getting at the time of the injury. They also could elect to take a standard disability retirement allowance, which could be higher for officers who served many years.
''The intent of the bill is to close a gap,'' said Wally Tarantino, legal counsel for the Nevada Department of Public Safety Association. ''This is the situation they're confronted with.''
Gary Wolff, a Teamsters representative for Nevada law enforcement, said that he can only think of three people, including Kintzel, in the last eight years who would have qualified for this legislation. The other two, he said, wouldn't even take the pay because they have gone on to other jobs.
Still, there's opposition to SB145 based on the costs presented in the bill's fiscal note. It's estimated the bill would cost the state $2.7 million over the coming two-year budget cycle and could cost local governments $4.6 million.
''My concern is related to the contribution-rate impact of this bill,'' said Dana Bilyeu, executive director of the state's Public Employees Retirement System. Representatives of the Nevada League of Cities and the City of Las Vegas also spoke against the bill.
Wolff said he's certain the estimated cost will decrease significantly with a proposed amendment that would narrow the definition of ''catastrophic injury.''
