California firefighters understand better than most that pension policy has consequences. We also understand why Californians deserve a retirement system that is financially responsible, sustainable and fair to the people who serve them. That is why the debate over AB 1383 should be based on what the legislation actually does today — not on decisions made more than two decades ago.
AB 1383 does not return California to the pension system of the past. It builds on the safeguards established by the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) enacted in 2013. According to CalPERS data, PEPRA has already saved cities and counties approximately $5.8 billion during its first 10 years and is projected to generate another $26.5 billion in savings over the next decade.
Those safeguards remain important. PEPRA’s requirement that employees pay half of the normal cost of their pensions remains intact. Firefighters will continue contributing at least half toward their retirement benefits. The projected increase in annual normal cost contributions under AB 1383 is approximately $282 million total for the over 2,900 agencies that contract with CalPERS, but that does not mean taxpayers are being handed a $282 million bill. Employees would be required to contribute approximately $141 million of that increase.
That distinction matters. Too often, the debate over AB 1383 suggests that firefighters are asking taxpayers to shoulder the entire cost of retirement benefits. That simply isn’t the case. Firefighters are taxpayers, too, and we have every interest in maintaining a retirement system that is financially responsible and sustainable for the communities we call home.
Fiscal responsibility also means recognizing the realities of a career in the fire service. Firefighters face repeated exposure to carcinogens, traumatic incidents and intense physical demands that can take a cumulative toll over decades. A retirement system should recognize those realities while helping public safety agencies maintain an experienced and healthy workforce.
AB 1383 also does not simply hand firefighters a new benefit. Some provisions, including the reduction in retirement age and changes to the pensionable compensation cap, would take effect automatically and prospectively. Other changes, including a new retirement tier and movement between tiers, would remain subject to collective bargaining between employers and employees.
Collective bargaining is not a loophole or a backdoor process. It is the established way public employers and employee organizations negotiate compensation and retirement benefits. Those negotiations occur between the parties and are subject to the laws and processes governing public employment which also prohibits public safety members from striking.
California can learn from the pension challenges of the past without assuming every change to the current system repeats those mistakes. AB 1383 preserves PEPRA’s core safeguards while giving public safety agencies and their employees more flexibility to address the realities of a career in the fire service.
Protecting firefighters and protecting taxpayers are not competing goals. With AB 1383, California can do both.
Editor’s note: California Assembly Bill 1383 (AB 1383) is a proposed legislative measure targeting public employee retirement benefits.
Written by Darrell Roberts, President, California Professional Firefighters
Published on August 20, 2026, in the Napa Valley Register: Letter: AB 1383 preserves pension reform while supporting firefighters | Letters to the Editor | napavalleyregister.com