Pension Bill 303 Introduced

The days of public funded pensions should have ended years ago. I realize since our state legislators were also in FRS, that wasn't going to happen. For 30 years I contributed into my own municipal pension. All of your overtime is calculated as pensionable earnings and you earn a guaranteed 3% COLA every year. It's about time EVERYONE in FRS starts contributing at least 6-7% of salary towards your own pension.

Sorry, but with your education and lack of people skills, you only make minimum wage, and the only risk you face, is getting sticky fingers from the slurpee machine! About your alleged 30 years contributing to a pension, I say bullshirt! You know you spent 10 of those years incarcerated and lived for free in those years! Many of us do not make it to retirement, and I hope you spend your's eating dog food and living in a homeless camp, Where you will still be protected , by us!

Well that's where you're wrong moron. Did my 30+ at FLPD. And you're missing the point altogether; with todays economy you can't expect the public to keep funding your pay raises, benefits, and your free pension and guaranteed COLA. Step up to the plate and be accountable! Otherwise you will be loosing benefits in the long run. If you find some common ground to compromise, I'm sure you will see an improved relationship with the State Legislature but more importantly the public. And you're right, I did know what my pension benefits were when I was hired, but I choose the best PD.

The days of public funded pensions should have ended years ago. I realize since our state legislators were also in FRS, that wasn't going to happen. For 30 years I contributed into my own municipal pension. All of your overtime is calculated as pensionable earnings and you earn a guaranteed 3% COLA every year. It's about time EVERYONE in FRS starts contributing at least 6-7% of salary towards your own pension.

You sound like you're playing victim here! Did you know when you applied to work at the municipality that you would be paying into the pension? Of course you did. If you didn't want to contribute then you should have applied to an FRS employer.

What people seem to be missing here, either intentionally or unintentionally, is that the total cost of an employee is a combination of their salary and what their benefits cost. So what if FRS employers pay all the retirement costs? The salaries of those FRS employees are usually lower than their municipal counterparts to balance it out.

What is being proposed in Tallahassee is a complete waste of everyone's time and the taxpayer money. Employers and employees have legally binding contracts in place. Any reduction in benefits that is mandated by the state will cause an increase in salary to balance everything out. My agency already has the money to pay my salary and pension contribution. If you make me pay some of what they contribute to my pension, the "savings" will come to me in salary to make the payments myself. Anything other than that would be a breach of contract.

Public employees have already had their pay cut, raises frozen or simply not given a raise in the latest contracts. That is how to properly deal with budget shortfalls. Trying to do so through the alteration of the pension system is turning something very simple into something very difficult and will definitely result in a slew of lawsuits. Changing the rules for those already in the game is absurd and illegal.

Let me ask you something, where do you think your "FRS Employers" get their money from? It's not their money, it's the public's money. Keep up your arrogance and you will loose it.

Of course it's tax money, but he/she was saying that any necessary cuts should be from current pay or denying raises in the future rather than in the pension. Besides, considering the recent market upswing the FRS is probably 95-96% funded now. Why fix something that's not broken? Oh, I know why... because California blah, blah, blah! Well, California mismanaged and pilfered their fund... not the fault of the employees but instead the managers and politicians as always. But hey, why not just make the little guy pay for the phuk ups of the big-wigs... that's how it's always worked, right?

Of course it's tax money, but he/she was saying that any necessary cuts should be from current pay or denying raises in the future rather than in the pension. Besides, considering the recent market upswing the FRS is probably 95-96% funded now. Why fix something that's not broken? Oh, I know why... because California blah, blah, blah! Well, California mismanaged and pilfered their fund... not the fault of the employees but instead the managers and politicians as always. But hey, why not just make the little guy pay for the phuk ups of the big-wigs... that's how it's always worked, right?

HB303 pulled from consideration by its sponsor per Florida PBA bulletin. Thank God.