Op-Ed: Champaign’s Firefighter Shortages Mirror a Statewide Crisis. Pension Reform Could Strengthen Safety

CHAMPAIGN -- In Champaign, our firefighters are answering more calls with fewer hands, and the strain is beginning to show. Like departments across Illinois, Champaign Fire is seeing applicant numbers drop, new hires leave early, and seasoned firefighters stretched thin. The pressures of Tier 2 pension rules are making it harder to recruit and retain the people who keep our community safe.

In this urgent op-ed, AFFI President Chuck Sullivan outlines why reforming Tier 2 is essential to rebuilding strong staffing levels and ensuring reliable emergency response for every neighborhood in our city:

By Chuck Sullivan, President, Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, Springfield

As the holidays arrive, Illinois families gather to celebrate tradition, warmth, and safety. But for more than 18,000 professional firefighters and paramedics across our state, the holidays look a bit different. While most people are around the table with family, our members are riding in fire engines, responding to heart attacks, freeing crash victims from mangled vehicles, pulling loved ones from burning homes, and mitigating chemical leaks that threaten entire neighborhoods. We sacrifice our holidays — and sometimes our lives — so others may live.

Emergencies don’t take time off. Neither do we.

Yet at the very moment Illinois residents need us most, fire departments across the state are struggling to fill open positions. From Waukegan to Carbondale, Quincy to Danville — and everywhere in between — the applicant pools that once ran dozens or even hundreds deep have dwindled to single digits. Chiefs are seeing new hires walk away during training or leave after just a few years. Young people look at the demands of the job and then at the retirement they’d be earning decades from now under Tier 2. Too many decide the sacrifice simply isn’t worth it.

This is a crisis, and it is one lawmakers must confront now.

In 2010, the state created a “Tier 2” level of pension benefits for firefighters hired after January 1, 2011. Despite performing the exact same dangerous and technical work as Tier 1 firefighters, Tier 2 members receive significantly lower retirement benefits. They pay the same 9.5 percent of their salary into their pension fund, yet face higher retirement ages, reduced cost-of-living adjustments, and a salary cap that depresses lifetime benefits.

And unlike most workers, firefighters do not receive Social Security. On top of that, retirees are paying full freight for post-career healthcare — often more than $1,300 a month. That means retirement security for Tier 2 firefighters is not only diminished — it’s precarious.

Tier 2 has become one of the most significant barriers to recruitment and retention in our profession. And because so many departments are understaffed, response times are threatened. Fewer firefighters on duty can make the difference between a rescued victim and a tragic outcome. Public safety depends on strong, stable staffing. That depends on a fair, reliable pension.

So the question for lawmakers becomes simple: Why would we allow a pension system to stay broken when fixing it protects public safety?

That is why we strongly support Senate Bill 1937, legislation that takes meaningful action to ensure retirement fairness for firefighters statewide. It is ready for consideration in the upcoming legislative session and can be viewed here: https://ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=1937&GAID=18&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=161266&SessionID=114

And for anyone wanting to learn more about why Tier 2 reform is essential, visit:

https://www.fixtier2.com/

Illinois firefighters are proud to serve. We show up in the worst moments of people’s lives — at all hours, in all conditions, on every holiday. The public expects a fully staffed fire engine to arrive promptly when a child is choking, when a heart stops, or when smoke is pouring from a neighbor’s roof. We expect lawmakers to ensure those who answer that call have a dignified retirement after a career of sacrifice.

Reforming Tier 2 is not a luxury or a bonus: it is a public safety necessity. It will help fill firehouses, reduce burnout, and keep experienced firefighters on the job where they are needed most.

As Illinois looks toward 2026, our message is clear: Give our communities the gift of strong emergency response. Pass SB 1937. Fix Tier 2. Stand with those who stand ready, every hour of every day, even on Christmas morning.