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HUNTINGTON -- Legislation regarding pension funds is moving in the right direction, according to Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha.

Gov. Joe Manchin called Legislature into a special session this week to deal with ailing municipal police and fire pension funds.

"We're moving very, very well at this point," Foster said Tuesday afternoon. "Everybody's interested."

Police and fire pension plans across the state are suffering from funding shortfalls. The pending bill would allow municipalities to close such plans to new hires, freezing those unfunded liabilities.

Among the ailing municipalities, officials have said Huntington is hurting the worst. More than 20 percent, or $8.8 million, of Huntington's $42 million budget is going to pension costs this year. Under the current funding method, those costs will rise to $12.4 million a year by 2015 and will not reach their ceiling until they hit approximately $20 million a year between 2020 and 2022, according to the city's finance department.

Huntington officials have said that revenue growth cannot keep up with the current retirement system's costs and that the city will have to file for federal receivership if it is not changed soon.

Foster said the Huntington situation got the attention of the House and Senate leadership as well as the Governor.

"But, this is important to more than Huntington. There are a great number of municipalities that have trouble. Hopefully they can all benefit if we can pass this. And, there will be no new, additional burden on the taxpayers," Foster said.

Dubbed the "Huntington Plan" because of that city's pursuit of relief, the pension bill is among about a dozen items that Gov. Joe Manchin included on the session call. Lawmakers hope to tackle the agenda amid a three-day series of interim study meetings, which end Thursday.

The pension restructuring measure does not include any state spending. Advocates of aiding the cities have previously eyed hiking or rerouting taxes on insurance policy premiums. Such provisions have helped kill earlier bills. Rural lawmakers balk at the state spending. Supporters of volunteer fire departments have jockeyed for that revenue as well.

The absence of taxpayer dollars helped the House Pensions and Retirement Committee unanimously advance the measure without major changes Tuesday.

"They're haven't been any significant concerns raised that I've heard, so that's good, but we're continuing to make sure that we address any that do arise," Foster said, adding that he expected much debate and discussion on Wednesday.

The finance committees of each chamber expect to take up their versions of the bill Wednesday, with much of the rest of the agenda heading to committees as well.

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