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Pension Politics

May 7th, 2014 by flanews

A plan to overhaul Florida’s retirement system ended with lawmakers making no changes this year.   Politics got in the way of a needed fix to a broken local pension system, and tried to repair the state pension system many say doesn’t need fixing.

Lawmakers spent most of the 2014 legislative session going back and forth on a state pension overhaul.  But it was a needed municipal pension bill that got caught up in the mix.

“I’m not sure there’s a financial expert in the world that would sound the alarms on the FRS. Everyone would sound the alarms on the local pensions,” said Sen. Jeremy Ring (D-Margate) who sponsored the local pension bill.

The Florida Retirement System for teachers, firefighters and state workers is about 87 percent funded. It is considered one of the strongest in the country.  But some local pension plans covering police and fire departments are in bad shape. Some are 60 to 70 percent short.

“As I’ve said all along, the real crisis in the state is the municipal crisis. Look at cities like Detroit, you can’t compare that to the FRS because that’s a municipal plan,” said Sen. Ring.

The city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy in large part due getting behind on local pension payouts.  Cities in Florida aren’t there…yet.  A municipal bill would have freed up cash for local governments to continue paying retirees.

The House Speaker combined the state pension overhaul with the local one. That’s when both bills died.

Florida’s League of Cities was disappointed.

“What happened? Well politics happened. It basically just got caught up in the process. The House bill was available in the Senate and the Senate bill was available in the House,” said Scott Dudley with the League.

Lawmakers said they’ll keep pushing for a statewide overhaul.

“There was absolutely nothing that failed to pass that was a priority of Speaker Weatherford’s or mine other than the pension issue, and we’ll come back to that next year,” said Senate President Don Gaetz following the end of session.

Part of the reasons state pensions are fully funded: lawmakers borrowing from it in good years and not contributing during the bad ones.

Legislation passed in 1999 requires local governments to take insurance premium taxes and spend it on extra benefits and not on the local police and fire pension plans. Some say that’s the problem and it’s not sustainable.

Posted in State News | Comments Off on Pension Politics

Former Sheriff Scott Israel Makes Case for Reinstatement

June 18th, 2019 by Jake Stofan

Suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel began making his case for reinstatement Tuesday morning.

The Governor removed Israel from office for what he called incompetence and neglect of duty over his response to the Parkland shooting, but Israel’s legal team is calling the removal a political stunt.

Suspending Israel was one of Governor Ron DeSantis’ first actions after taking office in January.

But it’s up to the Senate to uphold the suspension.

Arguing their case before a Special Master, the Governor’s lawyers argued negligence and incompetence on Sheriff Israel’s part lead to more deaths during the Parkland shooting.

“Scott Israel failed to properly train and prepare his deputies for real life, active shooter situations,” said Nicholas Primrose the attorney representing the Governor’s office.

But Israel’s attorneys Benedict Kuehne and Stuart Kaplan argued the Sheriff ordered more training for active shooter situations than is required under law.

“This is sad, to have politicized the lived of children,” said Kuehne.

DeSantis has been vocal in calling on the Senate to uphold the suspension.

“It’s important that the senators go on record and let people know, ya know, whether they think people like Sheriff Israel are behaving in ways that are appropriate,” said DeSantis.

The Senate President said the Senate will make its decision independent of the Governor’s desires.

Israel’s attorneys hope that’s the case, but say there are signs politics may bleed over into a decision.

They cite the decision by the Special Master to go ahead with the final hearing before Israel’s legal team could obtain documents related to the arrest of Scot Petersen, the former SRO at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

“Because are they concerned that once all this information becomes public, would that show that there was a rush to judgement here and that the removal was improper,” said Kaplan.

Once the final hearing concludes, the special master will make his recommendation to the Senate.

A final decision from the Senate could come as early as Fall 2019 when the Legislature begins committee meetings.

Posted in State News | No Comments »

Labor Fighting Back

September 2nd, 2011 by Mike Vasilinda

Labor Day has been celebrated since 1882, but this year saw efforts to change dues collections and increased pension contributions. Organizers expect more of the same in the coming year, and As Mike Vasilinda tells us, they are preparing to do battle.

Dozens of Labor Day celebrations will be held around the state on Monday.

Honoring working men and women has been an American tradition for more than a century, but this year inside the state capitol, organized labor was in a bitter fight for survival.

Im not ashamed of being a Republican, but I am concerned and disappointed in the direction of the Republican party, Orange Park professional firefighter Scotty Taylor said in March.

GOP lawmakers tried to curtail dues collections and pensions. Firefighters say theres still plenty to celebrate this Labor Day, but the attacks hurt.

The feeling that everything is going to be fixed by taking away from us is demoralizing, professional firefighter Ruben Rodriguez said.

The fight against organized labor is taking place in several states, which lead to the creation of this web site.

With so many extremely conservative, far-reaching, anti-labor governors in office today, its difficult to decide who in fact is the worst governor ever. (Sound from website video).

Organizers say the fight isnt over

Governor Rick Scott is expected to go back to lawmakers next spring, asking for more big changes in the pension plan. Cities and counties are also expected to seek more changes.

Floridas teachers union has added new members since tenure was abolished, and the AFL-CIO says there is new vitality.

People are really fired up, Rich Templin with the Florida AFL-CIO said. They really now are seeing the naked politics that are taking place at the Florida legislature.

Organized labor says they are under attack because they are the only ones speaking out against an agenda that favors businesses and the rich. The GOP counters that it is all about what tax payers can afford.

Dozens of Labor Day celebrations will be held around the state on Monday.

Posted in Legislature, State Budget, State News, Unions | 17 Comments »

Florida Seeks to Grow High Tech Businesses

June 19th, 2009 by Mike Vasilinda

State lawmakers authorized the state pension fund to use up to two billion dollars for investment in companies here in Florida or ready to move here. The bill was enacted in 2008,and as Mike Vasilinda tells us the first 250 million dollars is ready to be invested in companies who will create and attract high tech jobs.

The sights are being set high. The 250 million will be invested in companies who build things like this robotic dog, this unmanned helicopter, or this unmanned aircraft with flexible wings. The aircraft is the direct result of technology developed by the University of Florida.

“This plane is smart,” Bryan DeFrota with Priroia Robotics said. “It Flies and it’s capable of seeing obstacles, it’s capable of autonomously tracking targets.”

State officials announced the fund Friday morning…just an hour before new numbers showed unemployment increasing. Attorney General Bill McCollum says new job creation wont be immediate.

“As far as larger numbers of jobs are concerned, they’re going to be seen for Florida as these young companies grow over the next 3, 4, 5,10 years,” McCollum said.

To make sure the politics don’t influence who gets the cash, the state’s hired a respected money manager to handle the fund.

The pension fund is also not looking to be a charity…but to make money.

“We seek a premium return on investments of this nature,” Ash Williams with the state board of administration said. “They’re less liquid, and for that reason as an investor we want to get paid more to make those investments. I think that’s what our beneficiaries deserve and expect.”

Lawmakers have authorized up to one and a half percent or abo two billion dollars of the pension fund for Florida investment.

Posted in Business, McCollum, State News | No Comments »

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