Ask the PBA

Nothing but crickets from the PBA. Stand by for a bonus.....maybe. It has always been this way, once we get a decent raise its always years before we get another. In the meantime, its a bonus or a two maybe three percent cola for all state emplyees if we are luck. With a 1.2 billion budget surplus no less......brigs back memories....good times... :evil:

For all of you with less than 20 years on, now is the time to go as this shit never changes.

Matttttt, what news? Are we going to get it? Im holding off on this application with Broward SO

Hold tight. A few more days to go.

Why isn't Matt answering our questions? When the session started he was all over this site? Now, he is nowhere. :x

I just got the email from PBA about the 5%. Matt you and Pba are men, thank you and thanks to the legislators who helped us out. Finally, a carrying gesture towards law enforcement.

So, what did the e-mail say? Since you seem to be the only one who received it? :roll:
















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Reading the tea leaves, or at least listening to some lawmakers in a position to know, it’s becoming more and more clear that state workers won’t be getting an across-the-board pay raise this year.

“We’re in the last 10 days of session, so lots of ideas and proposals will be discussed,” Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told me last week. “But at this point, I think it’s unlikely.” Others, including Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, and Rep. Halsey Beshears, R-Monticello, also have acknowledged that raises are a long shot.

Why is that, exactly?

For starters, there’s little political payoff for the Republican-led Legislature. The state workforce is seen as a largely Tallahassee constituency that tends to vote for Democrats.

Raises also fly in the face of the idea of small government — Florida’s state workforce is the leanest and cheapest in the country, per capita, something Gov. Rick Scott likes to point out as he runs for re-election.

Raises aren’t cheap, either.

A 3-percent across-the-board raise would cost more than $200 million, and that’s just in the first year. The argument that raises are a moral imperative had legs last year, mainly because state workers had gone six years without one.

Montford, who said he’s still pushing for a raise of some kind, said lawmakers are focused on other priorities this year, including tax breaks and other measures designed to help all Floridians.

“So I think that right now, for the majority of the leadership anyway, that’s a higher priority than giving a pay raise to state employees,” he said. “That’s not to say that leadership does not respect state employees — they do. But it’s just not quite as high a priority. It happens to be a high priority for me. And they respect that, and I respect their position.”

Rather than offering across-the-board raises, Scott has proposed giving merit bonuses of $2,500 for employees evaluated as “commendable” and $5,000 for those evaluated as “exceptional.” Money for bonuses was included in House and Senate spending plans.

BY MICHAEL VAN SICKLER, TIA MITCHELL AND KATHLEEN MCGRORY
HERALD TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- Lawmakers haggling over next year’s $75 billion budget on Sunday moved closer to significant deals on state worker’s salaries, a controversial plan to build another engineering school, and environmental projects.

The House wants a 5 percent across-the-board increase for the state’s law enforcement employees, including sworn officers of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, and special agents. It would cost about $11 million.

The Senate plan doesn’t include such a hike, but on Sunday House leaders added other employees for whom the Senate sought higher compensation, including those in the court system (at a cost of $8 million), assistant state attorneys and assistant public defenders ($10.9 million) and assistant conflict counsels ($457,000).

“Today, we picked up some Senate priorities,” said House Appropriations Chairman Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland. “Which we’re very comfortable with.”

The Senate has not committed, but at this stage in the annual budget wrangling, it is assumed that offers made publicly will be accepted, especially those that accommodate the other chamber’s position.

“That’s usually a good sign,” said Matt Puckett, executive director of the Florida Police Benevolent Association. “We’re really happy it’s in there and they are adding other categories to it. It’s a generous offer.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/28/4 ... rylink=cpy

[Matt Puckett]

The Legislature officially agrees to a 5% across the board pay raise for all state law enforcement officers, FHP and FDLE Special Agents. The raise will go into effect on June 30, 2014.

There are other issues in the budget that may put more money into your pockets. We are still waiting to learn all of the details as the legislative leaders continue to negotiate the final budget.

We will email out updates throughout the next few days so please stay tuned.

[Matt Puckett]

Why isn't Matt answering our questions? When the session started he was all over this site? Now, he is nowhere. :x

You can always email me if I am not responding to you via this forum. matt@flpba.org

The Legislature officially agrees to a 5% across the board pay raise for all state law enforcement officers, FHP and FDLE Special Agents. The raise will go into effect on June 30, 2014.

There are other issues in the budget that may put more money into your pockets. We are still waiting to learn all of the details as the legislative leaders continue to negotiate the final budget.

We will email out updates throughout the next few days so please stay tuned.

Matt thanks for all the work Pba has done, the Troops really appreciate it and thanks to the legislators who supported us.........

Signed FHP Sergeant Troop D