After a lengthy debate on how Utah’s police and firefighters are underpaid and who’s to blame, the Utah Senate voted 27-2 to infuse $5.3 million into the retirement systems for first responders.
The vote on SB129 came after the bill was substituted to provide a single year of assistance to cities — rather than an ongoing annual transfer of funding. That came after Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, objected to the use of state money to provide compensation to municipal employees.
“After a one-year bridge," Fillmore said, “the employer should pay the full cost of paying their public safety employees.