r/Firefighting • u/946stockton • 2d ago

General Discussion Mississippi Firefighters- 35 Years and no COLA

https://www.wlox.com/2025/08/27/mississippi-fire-departments-questioning-long-term-impact-recent-changes-pers/?outputType=amp

A new Mississippi law is making all new people hired on for police/fire to put in 35 years of service before they are eligible for their retirement, and no cost of living adjustment.

When a state senator was asked about how it’ll affect recruiting “They can do something else.”

Their state usually ranks at the bottom of rankings, so residents of other states near the bottom can still say, "Thank God for Mississippi.”

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u/Iamdickburns ACFD 2d ago

You'll just wind up with more guys on medical retirements. I got hired at 30, aint now way I could do this job at 65.

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u/Yurple_RS 1d ago edited 1d ago

Which will suck the pensions dry even faster. Their so-called "solution" to pensions running dry shouldn't be requiring people to work longer, especially in such a dangerous and physically demanding profession.

There's a ton of other things they could do like put an age cap on applicants, extend retirement cap for non-field qualified personnel, reduce the number of volunteer positions in favor of paid positions that would add more money to the pension, or even require cities to pay into the pension for every position filled by volunteers.

I'm sorry, but Republicans (especially MAGA), historically speaking, are wayyy out of touch with laborers. There's a reason they are known for busting unions up and pushing states into "right to work".