Legislative Aide Response ref. HB303 withdraw

Dan Barrow was kind enough to provide his cellular number - give him a call.

From: Barrow, Daniel mail to: Daniel.Barrow@myfloridahouse.gov
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 9:26 AM From Representative Costello:

Members, Legislative Aides and Interested Parties:

While I remain fully committed to comprehensive, equitable and sustainable pension reform, by now you may be aware that I have pulled HB 303. So why did I pull it? Two reasons:

1) I am advised there will likely be a proposed committee bill from the Government Operations Subcommittee addressing pension reform. Had I known that six weeks ago, I would have presented the pension reform draft directly to Chairman Patronis rather than filing such a significant bill as a Rookie Representative. In case you wonder about my appetite for and willingness to be a lightning rod to advocate for significant pension reform, I have been working with Kraig Conn, Deputy General Counsel, Florida League of Cities, on pension reform for many years while serving as Mayor of Ormond Beach. Be assured that my appetite for pension reform has not diminished!

2) Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson (incoming President of the Florida Sheriffs Association) suggested compromises that the PBA and FOP representatives accepted that will hopefully work for all parties. Obviously I have no authority to accept such compromises on behalf of the House … but I can recommend them! Sheriff Johnson is a valuable resource and I’m confident he will make himself available should the Committee need additional input. In return for the PBA’s agreement to jointly present the significant compromise reforms (briefly outlined below) we discussed to Chairman Patronis, I told the PBA and FOP representatives I would pull the bill to show my good faith. Obviously, I fully expect the PBA to complete our good faith partnership and formally agree to those compromises. If they don’t, in addition to being greatly disappointed at their lack of following through on what they agreed to do, I will advocate those reforms directly to Chairman Patronis and to members of the Committee. Obviously, there are many other stakeholders from whom we need to hear, but I believe the reforms discussed will benefit all employee groups.

Please note that a significant provision of the HB 303 was that all benefits earned to date would remain unchanged. That should be obvious. Beyond that, in such matters the beginning point on both sides is exaggerated. While much of the criticism of HB 303 came from reducing the multiplier to 1.6 for all employees, the same as our teachers and many of our State employees currently receive, you should know that the bill authorized the State or local government employer to add a defined contribution for our high hazard employees. That seems to have been routinely missed. I continue to believe that this hybrid of a defined benefit plan with additional contributions offers the best plan for our employees. But that is up to the Committee and House to decide. The 401k style investment plan would remain an option for those who may prefer more portability and immediate vesting … and it is entirely possible that the ultimate House Bill, Senate Bill and/or Governor’s proposal will be solely a defined contribution plan. Additionally, HB 303 was designed to force correction of the abuses of the DROP plan and excessive overtime loading by eliminating them. I believe reasonable compromises have been proposed and agreed to and thus (if the Committee, House, Senate and Governor agree) we will not have to totally eliminate those benefits. Lastly, we have discussed 15% of payroll as a consistent pension funding amount for our high hazard employees (and less for our other employee classes) so governments can budget for future expenses. Any necessary funding to meet current unfunded liabilities would be additional. With such a plan, employees will be fully confident that the benefits will be there when they need them. I highly recommend that we adopt a plan based upon a fixed percentage of payroll for our various employment classes to limit our exposure. In the good times, the pension fund excess gains will create a buffer for the bad times. When there is enough of a buffer, additional one time pension contributions could be made without increasing the potential for future unfunded liabilities by increasing the multiplier.

While the significant reforms outlined in HB 303 are in line with the recommendations of several policy groups (including FSU’s LeRoy Collins Institute for Public Policy, Florida Tax Watch and the James Madison Institute) that have studied the matter extensively, my purpose in outlining what some considered optimal and others considered extreme measures was to get the attention of the union negotiators so they would know it is time to get serious. That initial mission has been accomplished. Now, it’s up to the Committee, House, Senate and Governor … “let’s get to work!”

Dan Barrow
Legislative Aide to Representative Fred Costello
850-488-9873 - Tallahassee
404-405-8145 - Cell
1101The Capitol
402 S. Monroe St
Tallahassee, FL
32399

Mr. Barrow,

I read the letter regarding the withdraw of HB303 and how Representative Costello has made it known that his "appetite for pension reform has not diminished!” That comment alone coming from a "Rookie Representative" disturbs many who are in the Florida Retirement System. Considering FRS has been able to sustain growth and is the 4th richest pension plan in the country you are still "hell bent" on reform that will affect many. Have you ever heard the saying "If it isn't broke, you don't need to fix it"? Clearly, you put the horse in front of the carriage when you drafted this proposal because you wanted to make a name for yourself. This is very typical behavior for a "self-centered, self-serving" politician who again shows his vindictiveness.

Cops keep dying and those Elected Officials who support "pension reform" don't care. This attached letter was written and emailed to Representative Costello prior to the funerals for Miami-Dade Police Officer's Roger Castillo and Amanda Haworth. I have written many letters to Elected Officials voicing concerns of many in our profession and as usual we get NO response from the Elected Official who are suppose to be working for the people (remember it's the people who vote and put Elected Officials in positions such as yours?). Hence, you work for the people? We see it more and more where Elected Officials frequently ignore letters from the public they are sworn to serve. Our government clearly shows us that we are not a democratic state - our Elected Officials do what they want and when they want it.

Tallahassee is loaded with Elected Officials whose professions are many. They are doctors, lawyers, professors and career politicians. To put it in other words, they come to Tallahassee financially set for life as I'm sure is the case with Representative Costello who is a "cosmetic dentist". Those of us who are not so fortunate have spent a career putting our lives on the line to protect people like you. You lack first hand knowledge as you what we deal with over a career.

Educate yourself and when you're not focusing so much on screwing over those who protect you, look up the history of the Miami River cops. Because if you get your wish of pension reform, the quality of the Law Enforcement pool will diminish greatly and corruption will be rampant.

The next time Law Enforcement needs to execute an arrest or search warrant, do us a favor - YOU SERVE IT.

God Bless you Daniel.

Doug Lashbrook
Broward County Sheriff's Office

Oops - It's carriage or cart in front of the horse!

Good job!
I, like yourself, fail to get any responses to my inquiries from these "elected" officials.

Doug,
An excellent response and one that echos from us all....for any one who voted for this Governor, shame on you...I'd say we're stuck with him for better or worse, but there is no better and it's going to get worse soon....we're gonna get hammered...the only thing we can do is send out these e-mails, letters and make calls and at least put a little tiny pressure on these guys.

Good job!
I, like yourself, fail to get any responses to my inquiries from these "elected" officials.
Want a response? Send an email, after a few days with no response, make a public records request for all emails between the date you sent it and a few days afterwards. Now, when making a public records request, it need not be in writing and no name needs to be given, however if they need to be mailed, then that informationis needed. If you now don't get a response then contact the Atty Generals Office and file an ethics complaint! Man using the system is fun when you know how! You'll get a response and make some a-wholes pucker......I dod it all the time, when they ask my name I tell them review FSS 119....Hey want to really get the pucker factor going? ask for cell phone records as well..