RALLY FOR SOLIDARITY AND CHANGE
"AWAKE THE STATE RALLY": This Tuesday , MARCH 8 from 4-6p.m. your PSCFA/UFF/FEA invites you to attend the local "Take Back the State" rally outside of Representative Clay Ford's office at 1804 W. Garden St., Pensacola, FL 32506
WEAR RED for SOLIDARITY!!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Dueling Rallies Over Budget Battles
TALLAHASSEE --
As state lawmakers prepare for a marathon legislative session, Floridians angry over budget cuts and politics are also headed to Tallahassee to make sure their voices are heard.
Two rallies are scheduled from both sides of the battle over budget cuts.
On the side supporting a slimmer budget, Florida Tea Party organizers said they will hold a Save Our State Rally on Tuesday to show their support for Gov. Rick Scott.
Also on Tuesday, a coalition of liberal groups against slashing the state budget said it is hosting an Awake the State Rally, also in Tallahassee.
However, over two dozen other Awake the State rallies are scheduled across Florida on Tuesday.
As state lawmakers prepare for a marathon legislative session, Floridians angry over budget cuts and politics are also headed to Tallahassee to make sure their voices are heard.
Two rallies are scheduled from both sides of the battle over budget cuts.
On the side supporting a slimmer budget, Florida Tea Party organizers said they will hold a Save Our State Rally on Tuesday to show their support for Gov. Rick Scott.
Also on Tuesday, a coalition of liberal groups against slashing the state budget said it is hosting an Awake the State Rally, also in Tallahassee.
However, over two dozen other Awake the State rallies are scheduled across Florida on Tuesday.
Major pension reform battle looms in Legislature
By Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: Sunday, March 6, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — As 90-year-old Ed Hoffman stood before a House committee and urged them "not to reduce the benefits for officers and law enforcement who put their lives on the line," his eyes welled up with tears.
"You could not hold a gun to my head and make me go into a correctional institution for $31,000," said Hoffman, a former West Palm Beach firefighter.
He spoke of the five police officers and the corrections officer killed in the line of duty in Florida in the last two months. "Those people don't deserve to be treated in a manner that would make them contribute to a pension system without adequate salaries," he said. "It's not fair. It's not right."
The question of whether Florida's government workers should have their benefits scaled back to help balance the state budget goes to the core of the emotional pension reform debate that lies ahead for Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature.
During the 60-day session, lawmakers plan the broadest overhaul to the Florida Retirement System since 1974, the last time workers paid directly into their retirement accounts.
On one side are employees and unions who argue that they have already made financial sacrifices to fill a $3.6 billion budget gap.
They say they have agreed to wage concessions, overtime, furloughs and increased responsibilities in the past few years to preserve their benefits packages amid deep budget cuts. And they say they are willing to make more concessions, with the hope that legislators will restore cuts when the economy improves.
On the other side is Scott, lobbying groups for the state's largest corporations, and a disparate but growing tea party movement in Florida. They believe the pension system has a glaring inequity: it doesn't require employees to contribute to their retirement accounts and it gives two-thirds of all workers a guaranteed pension, regardless of investment returns.
For Scott, who spent a lifetime in the private sector and drew a public paycheck only when he was enlisted in the Navy, Florida's pension is simply unfair. In the private sector, the governor says, employees are expected to contribute to their retirement accounts, most of which are 401(k)-style plans that don't guarantee returns.
"I think it's only fair that those who participate in the pension plan contribute," Scott said.
He argues that it is not right for state workers to rely on taxpayer-financed pension plans that guarantee an income stream when those same taxpayers face a future of uncertainty because of the Wall Street turmoil and the declines in their investments. His argument is echoed by Barney Bishop, director of Associated Industries of Florida, a business-backed lobbyist group.
"We support efforts to bring Florida's pension system more in line with the private sector," Bishop told the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee in February. "After all, it's taxpayers' money, and taxpayers are hurting."
He said the corporations that back his group want reforms that require state employees to have a defined contribution plan "so that state employees have some skin in the game. To date, the public sector has not felt the pain of the private sector in terms of unemployment."
To that end, the governor called for scrapping the defined benefit plan for new hires and requiring that all new employees get 401(k)-style defined contribution plans that they can take with them when they leave government.
He also proposed ending the Deferred Retirement Option Program, known as DROP, beginning July 1. The popular program encourages older workers to retire early, before their health insurance expenses rise, by allowing them to draw their pension check and return to work. Critics say it allows state workers to receive two state paychecks.
Scott also proposed eliminating cost-of-living adjustments and reducing the annual service credit for retirement benefits to 1.6 percent for most members of the Florida Retirement System (FRS), and 2 percent for police, fire and other special-risk employees. The estimated savings to state and local governments to the governor's plan: $1.4 billion, money the governor would pour back into the state budget.
Employee groups counter that the governor's plan fundamentally mischaracterizes the intent of the pension plan. They say their retirement funds, combined with their salaries, equal their full compensation package and together it is their "skin in the game."
In negotiations with state and local governments, they have agreed to defer payment from their salaries into their retirement accounts as a tradeoff. State and local governments can then use the investment earnings from the funds to offset their costs and employees get a guaranteed income when they retire.
In recent years, however, some local governments violated that pact when they failed to make contributions to the retirement accounts, negotiated richer benefits than they were willing to fund, or borrowed against it by taking our surplus revenue. And the crash of stock markets only worsened the situation. The result left a number of cities owing more money into their pension plans than they now pay in salaries.
It will be up to the Legislature to sort things out. So far, the Senate is the only chamber to have proposed a compromise. It is taking a two-pronged approach: addressing the call for strengthening local government retirement plans in one bill and modifying the FRS and adding employee contributions in another. One Senate plan would require employees to contribute 2 percent of their salaries into the retirement funds but not eliminate the defined benefit program.
Complicating the solution is the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit and the promise from the governor and legislators that they will raise taxes or close tax loopholes to do it. State workers salaries are seen as an available target.
Legislators were faced with a different set of problems in 1974, when they moved away from having employees contribute a portion of their salaries into their retirement accounts. At the time, employees contributed 4 percent of their salaries, while special-risk members (police, firefighters, prison guards) contributed 8 percent.
Under that arrangement, an employee who left the state work force was entitled to have his pension fund contribution returned in the form of a refund. In 1974, those refunds cost the state a whopping $30 million and left a big hole in the pension plan. Since employees couldn't take the employer's share of the retirement fund when they left, the state agreed to pay all of the retirement benefit and cut back on employee salaries.
The result was an increase in the state's contribution from 4 to 9 percent for regular class members — where it remains today — and from 8 to 13 percent for special-risk members.
For Ed Hoffman, it means drawing the same monthly pension benefit — $786 — today as he did when he retired in 1970 after earning $16,000 a year. He added that he took a second career with the Police Benevolent Association to earn Social Security.
"Not everybody is receiving those fabulous pensions that some people have accused public employees of receiving," he said. "It's no cushy deal. I have to work to eat."
In Print: Sunday, March 6, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — As 90-year-old Ed Hoffman stood before a House committee and urged them "not to reduce the benefits for officers and law enforcement who put their lives on the line," his eyes welled up with tears.
"You could not hold a gun to my head and make me go into a correctional institution for $31,000," said Hoffman, a former West Palm Beach firefighter.
He spoke of the five police officers and the corrections officer killed in the line of duty in Florida in the last two months. "Those people don't deserve to be treated in a manner that would make them contribute to a pension system without adequate salaries," he said. "It's not fair. It's not right."
The question of whether Florida's government workers should have their benefits scaled back to help balance the state budget goes to the core of the emotional pension reform debate that lies ahead for Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature.
During the 60-day session, lawmakers plan the broadest overhaul to the Florida Retirement System since 1974, the last time workers paid directly into their retirement accounts.
On one side are employees and unions who argue that they have already made financial sacrifices to fill a $3.6 billion budget gap.
They say they have agreed to wage concessions, overtime, furloughs and increased responsibilities in the past few years to preserve their benefits packages amid deep budget cuts. And they say they are willing to make more concessions, with the hope that legislators will restore cuts when the economy improves.
On the other side is Scott, lobbying groups for the state's largest corporations, and a disparate but growing tea party movement in Florida. They believe the pension system has a glaring inequity: it doesn't require employees to contribute to their retirement accounts and it gives two-thirds of all workers a guaranteed pension, regardless of investment returns.
For Scott, who spent a lifetime in the private sector and drew a public paycheck only when he was enlisted in the Navy, Florida's pension is simply unfair. In the private sector, the governor says, employees are expected to contribute to their retirement accounts, most of which are 401(k)-style plans that don't guarantee returns.
"I think it's only fair that those who participate in the pension plan contribute," Scott said.
He argues that it is not right for state workers to rely on taxpayer-financed pension plans that guarantee an income stream when those same taxpayers face a future of uncertainty because of the Wall Street turmoil and the declines in their investments. His argument is echoed by Barney Bishop, director of Associated Industries of Florida, a business-backed lobbyist group.
"We support efforts to bring Florida's pension system more in line with the private sector," Bishop told the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee in February. "After all, it's taxpayers' money, and taxpayers are hurting."
He said the corporations that back his group want reforms that require state employees to have a defined contribution plan "so that state employees have some skin in the game. To date, the public sector has not felt the pain of the private sector in terms of unemployment."
To that end, the governor called for scrapping the defined benefit plan for new hires and requiring that all new employees get 401(k)-style defined contribution plans that they can take with them when they leave government.
He also proposed ending the Deferred Retirement Option Program, known as DROP, beginning July 1. The popular program encourages older workers to retire early, before their health insurance expenses rise, by allowing them to draw their pension check and return to work. Critics say it allows state workers to receive two state paychecks.
Scott also proposed eliminating cost-of-living adjustments and reducing the annual service credit for retirement benefits to 1.6 percent for most members of the Florida Retirement System (FRS), and 2 percent for police, fire and other special-risk employees. The estimated savings to state and local governments to the governor's plan: $1.4 billion, money the governor would pour back into the state budget.
Employee groups counter that the governor's plan fundamentally mischaracterizes the intent of the pension plan. They say their retirement funds, combined with their salaries, equal their full compensation package and together it is their "skin in the game."
In negotiations with state and local governments, they have agreed to defer payment from their salaries into their retirement accounts as a tradeoff. State and local governments can then use the investment earnings from the funds to offset their costs and employees get a guaranteed income when they retire.
In recent years, however, some local governments violated that pact when they failed to make contributions to the retirement accounts, negotiated richer benefits than they were willing to fund, or borrowed against it by taking our surplus revenue. And the crash of stock markets only worsened the situation. The result left a number of cities owing more money into their pension plans than they now pay in salaries.
It will be up to the Legislature to sort things out. So far, the Senate is the only chamber to have proposed a compromise. It is taking a two-pronged approach: addressing the call for strengthening local government retirement plans in one bill and modifying the FRS and adding employee contributions in another. One Senate plan would require employees to contribute 2 percent of their salaries into the retirement funds but not eliminate the defined benefit program.
Complicating the solution is the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit and the promise from the governor and legislators that they will raise taxes or close tax loopholes to do it. State workers salaries are seen as an available target.
Legislators were faced with a different set of problems in 1974, when they moved away from having employees contribute a portion of their salaries into their retirement accounts. At the time, employees contributed 4 percent of their salaries, while special-risk members (police, firefighters, prison guards) contributed 8 percent.
Under that arrangement, an employee who left the state work force was entitled to have his pension fund contribution returned in the form of a refund. In 1974, those refunds cost the state a whopping $30 million and left a big hole in the pension plan. Since employees couldn't take the employer's share of the retirement fund when they left, the state agreed to pay all of the retirement benefit and cut back on employee salaries.
The result was an increase in the state's contribution from 4 to 9 percent for regular class members — where it remains today — and from 8 to 13 percent for special-risk members.
For Ed Hoffman, it means drawing the same monthly pension benefit — $786 — today as he did when he retired in 1970 after earning $16,000 a year. He added that he took a second career with the Police Benevolent Association to earn Social Security.
"Not everybody is receiving those fabulous pensions that some people have accused public employees of receiving," he said. "It's no cushy deal. I have to work to eat."
Friday, February 18, 2011
FRS Pension Reform Bill Update 2/15/11
Late yesterday, 2/15/2011, Sen. Ring introduced the much-anticipated FRS pension reform bill, SB 1130 (154 pages). FEA PPA has done a quick review of the 154-page bill and found the bill makes the following changes listed below. This is a preliminary listing of what SB 1130 does, but this preliminary report may not be completely accurate and/or comprehensive . FEA PPA is continuing to read and analyze the bill and will provide you with additional information as we develop it.
Sen. Ring will be holding a hearing on SB 1130 on Friday, 2/18/2011 to receive public input and comment. FEA has arranged for one or two FEA members who have a Legislator from their local area sitting on the committee to come in offer public comment..FEA is also working with the labor union and public employee coalition organizations to generate a large turn-out for this hearing, so that the Chairman and other members of the Committee see and feel the concern and interest of the large number of public employees from a diverse range of backgrounds and circumstances who will be negatively impacted by this legislation. Hearing location details:
Friday, 2/18/2011
Hearing time: 8:00 a.m. – 12 noon
Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Cmte
412 Knott Office Building
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL
SB 1130 reforms the Florida Retirement System (FRS) --
1. Closes defined benefit plan to new members, effective 7/1/11.
2. Changes vesting for new members of the defined contribution plan on or after 7/1/11. They will vest in graded increments over a five-year period.
3. Requires employee contributions for all members, effective 7/1/11, but the employee contribution amount is not specified. The rates probably will be decided in Senator Alexander's Budget Committee and will probably be included in the budget conforming bill (near the end of the 2011 legislative session)
4. The employer rates are listed for 2011 and 2012 so I am hopeful the employee rates will be phased in but the employer rates may be changed in the conforming bill also
5. Changes the definitions of “compensation” and “average final compensation” to exclude overtime and lump sum annual leave for all members, effective 7/1/11.
6. Allows reenrollment in the defined contribution plan.
7. Sets the employer contribution rates (which will be subject to change depending on other economic and policy issues).
8. DROP appears to be continued with no apparent changes except for those hired after 7/1/11.
9. HIS is not impacted by this bill.
10. The bill includes an actuarial study that will look at how DROP is funded
Pat Dix, J.D.
FEA Public Policy Advocacy
Florida Education Association
Sen. Ring will be holding a hearing on SB 1130 on Friday, 2/18/2011 to receive public input and comment. FEA has arranged for one or two FEA members who have a Legislator from their local area sitting on the committee to come in offer public comment..FEA is also working with the labor union and public employee coalition organizations to generate a large turn-out for this hearing, so that the Chairman and other members of the Committee see and feel the concern and interest of the large number of public employees from a diverse range of backgrounds and circumstances who will be negatively impacted by this legislation. Hearing location details:
Friday, 2/18/2011
Hearing time: 8:00 a.m. – 12 noon
Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Cmte
412 Knott Office Building
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL
SB 1130 reforms the Florida Retirement System (FRS) --
1. Closes defined benefit plan to new members, effective 7/1/11.
2. Changes vesting for new members of the defined contribution plan on or after 7/1/11. They will vest in graded increments over a five-year period.
3. Requires employee contributions for all members, effective 7/1/11, but the employee contribution amount is not specified. The rates probably will be decided in Senator Alexander's Budget Committee and will probably be included in the budget conforming bill (near the end of the 2011 legislative session)
4. The employer rates are listed for 2011 and 2012 so I am hopeful the employee rates will be phased in but the employer rates may be changed in the conforming bill also
5. Changes the definitions of “compensation” and “average final compensation” to exclude overtime and lump sum annual leave for all members, effective 7/1/11.
6. Allows reenrollment in the defined contribution plan.
7. Sets the employer contribution rates (which will be subject to change depending on other economic and policy issues).
8. DROP appears to be continued with no apparent changes except for those hired after 7/1/11.
9. HIS is not impacted by this bill.
10. The bill includes an actuarial study that will look at how DROP is funded
Pat Dix, J.D.
FEA Public Policy Advocacy
Florida Education Association
Friday, April 16, 2010
CLEAN SWEEP NEEDED AT THE TOP OF SPC
From the St. Petersburg Times, April 15, 2010
"The selection of Tallahassee Community College president Bill Law this week as the new president for St. Petersburg College was predictable, safe and uninspiring. Now Gov. Charlie Crist should be more creative and bring some fresh faces to the college's board of trustees. As long as the college is embarking on a new era of leadership, there should be a clean sweep at the top.
For years, the trustees were practically hand-picked by former president Carl Kuttler and acted as his rubber stamp. The college flourished, but there were times when Kuttler should have been reined in by more independent-minded trustees. Kuttler's incredible demands for his retirement package and the initial willingness of some trustees to write him an unreasonably large check crystalized just how out of balance the relationship had become.
Crist has an opportunity next month to start overhauling the board of trustees when the terms are up for W. Richard Johnston and Deveron Gibbons. Johnston has served more than 20 years over two different stints and was even on the board when Kuttler was hired. Gibbons has served just four years, but he has not been the most diligent or effective trustee. He wound up on the board primarily because of his close ties to former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, which created a mess when Baker did not endorse Gibbons in last year's mayoral primary and Gibbons did not support Baker for the St. Petersburg College presidency.
Next year, a new governor can replace Evelyn Bilirakis, the wife of the former congressman and mother of a current one, and Ken Burke, who can devote his full attention to his day job as clerk of court. Both have been trustees for more than a decade.
Now is the time for the governor to make appointments based less on political patronage and more on the qualities of leaders who can offer more aggressive oversight and better match the college's priorities with the community's needs. Law comes into the job facing a divided faculty and the long shadow of his larger-than-life predecessor. At 61, he is not likely to have a particularly long run as president. St. Petersburg College needs a strong board of trustees with more vision to ensure its long-term future is bright."
"The selection of Tallahassee Community College president Bill Law this week as the new president for St. Petersburg College was predictable, safe and uninspiring. Now Gov. Charlie Crist should be more creative and bring some fresh faces to the college's board of trustees. As long as the college is embarking on a new era of leadership, there should be a clean sweep at the top.
For years, the trustees were practically hand-picked by former president Carl Kuttler and acted as his rubber stamp. The college flourished, but there were times when Kuttler should have been reined in by more independent-minded trustees. Kuttler's incredible demands for his retirement package and the initial willingness of some trustees to write him an unreasonably large check crystalized just how out of balance the relationship had become.
Crist has an opportunity next month to start overhauling the board of trustees when the terms are up for W. Richard Johnston and Deveron Gibbons. Johnston has served more than 20 years over two different stints and was even on the board when Kuttler was hired. Gibbons has served just four years, but he has not been the most diligent or effective trustee. He wound up on the board primarily because of his close ties to former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, which created a mess when Baker did not endorse Gibbons in last year's mayoral primary and Gibbons did not support Baker for the St. Petersburg College presidency.
Next year, a new governor can replace Evelyn Bilirakis, the wife of the former congressman and mother of a current one, and Ken Burke, who can devote his full attention to his day job as clerk of court. Both have been trustees for more than a decade.
Now is the time for the governor to make appointments based less on political patronage and more on the qualities of leaders who can offer more aggressive oversight and better match the college's priorities with the community's needs. Law comes into the job facing a divided faculty and the long shadow of his larger-than-life predecessor. At 61, he is not likely to have a particularly long run as president. St. Petersburg College needs a strong board of trustees with more vision to ensure its long-term future is bright."
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Gov. Crist Vetoes Controversial Teacher Bill
By Gary Fineout, 04/15/2010 - 12:59 PM
Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed SB 6, the controversial measure that would strip job protections from teachers.
Crist publicly announced his veto at a noon press conference just outside his office which has been bombarded with calls and e-mails from teachers across the state.
The governor said he based his veto on several reasons, including the speed at which the bill moved through the Legislature and the fact that House Republicans refused to consider any amendments on the bill once it reached the full House.
Crist also said it would place the jobs of teachers in jeopardy and he said he was concerned about how it would impact special education teachers who would be evaluated based on the results of a high stakes test.
It's not clear yet how lawmakers plan to react, although a veto override would appear out of the question since the measure was opposed by Democrats and a handful of Republicans. It takes a two-thirds vote for an override.
But there could be a backlash against Crist that could affect how the session ends over the next two weeks.
Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed SB 6, the controversial measure that would strip job protections from teachers.
Crist publicly announced his veto at a noon press conference just outside his office which has been bombarded with calls and e-mails from teachers across the state.
The governor said he based his veto on several reasons, including the speed at which the bill moved through the Legislature and the fact that House Republicans refused to consider any amendments on the bill once it reached the full House.
Crist also said it would place the jobs of teachers in jeopardy and he said he was concerned about how it would impact special education teachers who would be evaluated based on the results of a high stakes test.
It's not clear yet how lawmakers plan to react, although a veto override would appear out of the question since the measure was opposed by Democrats and a handful of Republicans. It takes a two-thirds vote for an override.
But there could be a backlash against Crist that could affect how the session ends over the next two weeks.
Friday, April 9, 2010
MEET WITH REP. MURZIN ABOUT YOUR RETIREMENT CONCERNS
Rep. Murzin invites public to meet him at Jerry's Cajun Café on April 10th
Pensacola, Florida- State Rep. Dave Murzin invites the public to stop by and meet him on Saturday, April 10th, between noon and 5 p.m. Rep. Murzin wants to give his constituents a chance to informally meet with him both as a state Representative and as a candidate for the State Senate, District 2, currently held by Sen. Durrell Peaden.
Murzin will be stationed at a table on the front porch of Jerry's Cajun Café at 6205 N 9th Avenue, Pensacola, Florida. The public is encouraged to stop by between noon and 5 p.m.
Pensacola, Florida- State Rep. Dave Murzin invites the public to stop by and meet him on Saturday, April 10th, between noon and 5 p.m. Rep. Murzin wants to give his constituents a chance to informally meet with him both as a state Representative and as a candidate for the State Senate, District 2, currently held by Sen. Durrell Peaden.
Murzin will be stationed at a table on the front porch of Jerry's Cajun Café at 6205 N 9th Avenue, Pensacola, Florida. The public is encouraged to stop by between noon and 5 p.m.
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