By Melissa Moore-Randall
On December 13, Governor Charlie Baker signed House Bill 4278 into law. The bill that was spearheaded by Revere Fire Department Captain Kevin O’Hara who is the President of the Revere Firefighters Local 926 will provide creditable service for Revere Fire Department personnel in the City of Revere including 65 Revere firefighters who will have their Reserve Time reinstated.
The time was wrongly taken away from them by PERAC’s misinterpretation of a ruling that took place in 2020. According to President O’Hara, “On February 20, 2020, the State Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission issued PERAC Memo #11/2020, interpreting the SJC’s ruling which stripped the credible service that Revere Firefighters earned going back to June 30, 2009. This new bill would allow the Revere Retirement Board the authorization to provide creditable service for so-called “Reserve Time†to certain public safety personnel in the City of Revere. It will be in the same manner as it was allowed prior to the issuance of PERAC Memo #11/2020 regardless of the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary . The change would be available to any member of the Revere Fire Department who was a member of the Revere Retirement System on or before February 11, 2020.†“PERAC misinterpretation of this ruling stripped our brothers and sisters. They grouped Reserve Firefighters in with this ruling which was wrong. Imagine after 12 years of planning and preparing for retirement, PERAC decides to strip the time earned from these individuals? It was simply wrong. I always tell our Brothers and Sisters that the longer you stay in this profession the odds start working against you both mentally and physically. Your chances of behavioral health issues increase, constantly getting exposed to certain types of carcinogens which affect your body over the years, heart and lung issues, etc. So getting back the time was crucial.†President O’Hara would like to thank State Representative Jessica Giannino who led the charge, State Representative Jeff Turco, who assisted in rewriting the bill halfway through the process, Senator Lydia Edwards, The Revere City Council, and Mayor Brian Arrigo. “The odds were against us. For three years, we fought this and were told we couldn’t win. Firefighters are constantly fighting for something because we are so used to things being taken away from us. That is why we always stand up and fight for what we believe is earned and owed to us,†added O’Hara
