Representative Hadley Letty, the state representative for the Fourth Barnstable District, opened testimony urging protections for dispatchers affected by a retirement-classification review, saying the change would “create financial uncertainty and unnecessary hardship” for public-safety employees who planned retirements based on existing benefits.

The core ask at the committee’s Jan. hearing was to move certified 911 telecommunicators from Group 1 (general clerical) to Group 2 of the Massachusetts state retirement system, and to grandfather existing employees hired on or before Jan. 1, 2023. Kevin Lessard, deputy director of the Middlesex Regional Emergency Communication Center and president of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Emergency Number Association, asked the committee to report favorably on a suite of bills including House bills 2818, 2885 and 2968 and Senate bills 1827, 1856 and 1906, saying telecommunicators “answer life-or-death calls” and that the current Group 1 classification does not reflect the job’s duties.

Why it matters: Witnesses said reclassification would address a hiring and retention crisis, reduce turnover costs and recognize the cumulative mental-health impacts of the job. Lessard told the committee the recruiting, training and retention cost for one 911 hire is “a minimum of at least $35,000,” and said national turnover is roughly 30 percent with many leaving within a year. Erin Hastings, executive director of Middlesex Regional 911 and president of the Massachusetts Communication Supervisors Association, said dispatchers provide pre-arrival medical instruction, coordinate multiagency responses and routinely work extended shifts in chronically understaffed centers.

Multiple dispatchers described long careers and traumatic incidents. Scott Halligan, a retired Mashpee dispatcher, described routinely answering calls about severe injuries and deaths and said those experiences “are a hazard of the mind.” Diane Nicholson, a Barnstable County Retirement System member, said 209 members in Barnstable County could be affected and that the county’s prior supplementary regulation had treated many dispatchers as Group 2.

Officials from county systems and retirement administration testified the change would not necessarily impose new actuarial costs where boards had already budgeted for a supplemental regulation. Susie Holmes, executive director at the Barnstable County Retirement Association, said a supplementary regulation dating to 1999 had treated dispatchers as Group 2 and that the pension system’s actuaries had long budgeted on that basis; she said the bills include a Jan. 1, 2023 cutoff for grandfathering.

Supporters asked the committee to treat telecommunicators as public-safety professionals rather than clerical staff. Sheriff Robert Ogden of Dukes County (listed among registered witnesses) and other local chiefs and unions urged favorable reports on related bills; several organizations including the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Coalition of Police also voiced support.

No committee vote or formal action on the bills was taken at the hearing. The committee heard additional testimony on related retirement measures across other job classes during the same session.

Ending: Committee chairs closed the hearing after a broad slate of testimony; a motion to adjourn passed at the end of the session.