State lawmakers go into special session Tuesday and one item on the agenda is a bill that would help keep Huntington out of receivership.

The municipal pension bill is also aimed at assisting cities that have struggled in the funding of lucrative police and fire pension plans. But the bill would clearly benefit the state's second largest city most significantly.

Huntington Deputy Mayor Tom Bell says his city needs the legislation or the next step is bankruptcy. "This certainly would solve that issue, but if it doesn't get passed that's still a very likely scenario," he said.

The bill would allow cities to refinance their current pension debt and spread it out over a 40-year period while any new police and fire department hires would be placed under a new pension plan with similar benefits as the EMS workers plan currently overseen by the state.

Bell says he's "very confident" that all interested parties support the bill and he predicts passage.

Huntington's financial contributions to its police and fire pension funds next year will actually be more than the city's payroll. "For every dollar an employee earns, you're going to have to put a dollar into the pension fund," he said.

If nothing's done, Huntington's pension plan payments will balloon to $21 million a year in about a decade.

Bell says the new pension plan is more of a partnership between the cities and workers. "In the long run they're (new workers) equal to or better off than the current plan," Bell said. "It's just that part of it is going to be funded by the employee and employer."

There are 12 items up for consideration during the special session including a resolution honoring U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, a freeze on a component of the state's gasoline tax and a bill making clear the state is responsible for certain post-employment debts and not county school boards.