The board that oversees Arizona’s pension system for police, firefighter and other public safety employees voted to urge Gov. Jan Brewer to call a special session to fix funding problems in the state’s public employees’ pension system, though it declined to recommend the only concrete plan proposed so far.

For the fourth time in about two months, Gov. Jan Brewer rallied with supporters of her Medicaid expansion proposal at the Capitol, gathering hundreds of people for the largest such event she’s held since unveiling her health care plan.

As a Phoenix firefighter for 26 years and the president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona (PFFA), an organization that represents more than 6,700 firefighters statewide, I know quite a bit about “protection.” In fact, protecting others has been the basis of my career.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday passed Sen. Steve Yarbrough’s plan for overhauling pension systems for public safety employees, despite the near-unanimous opposition of the groups that would be affected.