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Payday will come one day early for state workers this week. The Thursday pay checks will be the last state workers receive without an automatic three percent pay deduction for their retirement plans, unless, as Whitney Ray tells us, a lawsuit on behalf of teachers and police officers to block the contributions is successful.

Teachers, police officers and firefighters are among the thousands who will see smaller paychecks starting in July. A new state law requires a three percent contribution for the 655-thousand government employees in the Florida Retirement System. The law is being challenged by the teachers and police officers.

“Anybody who has become a state employee entered state employment thinking they were getting one pension system and now all of a sudden they are getting an entirely different pension system,” said PBA General Council Hal Johnson.

The proceedings begin Thursday. The unions want the pension money put aside until there’s a final ruling on the legality of making state workers pay for their retirements.

The pension contribution plan has been in the works for more than a decade. This is a 233 page report released by Florida TaxWatch. It’s full of cost savings ideas. The pension contribution was the top on the list. We spoke to TaxWatch President Dominic Calabro by phone.

“Keep in mind that there is no contractual requirement that state government offers a job in state government or a spot in the Florida retirement system, so government employment and government service is not a right, it’s a privilege,” said Calabro.

The contributions are expected to save the state 1.4 billion dollars a year, but if a judge rules in favor of the unions, it could actually cost the state money. They’re asking a judge to return the money collected with interest.
Florida state workers are the lowest paid per capita in the country. They’re also the only state workforce in the union until now, not required to contribute to their retirement.