Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and other local officials came together Tuesday to voice their opposition to a bill that would make firefighter staffing levels subject to arbitration by an outside party other than municipalities.

The meeting occurred before the state Senate Executive Committee had a hearing on Wednesday afternoon.

Tisdahl, along with mayors, managers and fire chiefs from across the state, joined together at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning offices to speak against the bill. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives on April 3, would make wages, hours and conditions of employment subject to arbitration.

“This bill could indeed leave staffing levels, and thus municipal budgets, in the hands of outside arbitrators with no accountability to local taxpayers and voters,” Tisdahl said in a news release. “Our fire chiefs, not outside arbitrators, are best qualified to determine the fire and life safety needs of our communities in concert with our elected officials.”

The bill, an amendment to the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, would make staffing levels subject to mandatory collective bargaining. It would apply to all communities in Illinois except for Chicago.

Evanston fire Chief Greg Klaiber and other city officials took a strong stance against the bill in April. The bill gives local management less power in evaluating the appropriate staffing levels for their own communities, Klaiber said in April.

Some firefighters’ unions and advocates have voiced support of the bill because it would help settle safety concerns.

Rockford, Illinois mayor Larry Morrissey and Oak Lawn, Illinois’ village manager Larry Deetjen both spoke against the bill Tuesday at the meeting, saying it would have negative impacts on taxpayers and other public safety services.

Deetjen described some difficulties resulting from the bill at the meeting, the news release said.

“HB 5485 increases the challenges for municipalities across the state that are already dealing with severe budget constraints,” Deetjen said in a news release. “Let our elected mayors and municipal governing bodies do the jobs our constituents elected them to do, free from General Assembly interference and unfunded mandates.”

The bill will have its third reading in the state Senate on Thursday.

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