Florida House bill would raise retirement age...

[FD Bro']

Florida House bill would raise retirement age for state workers

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politic...orkers/1158057

"The bill did not include Scott's plan to eliminate cost-of-living adjustments for all retirees. Instead, the committee voted to lengthen the time police, firefighters and other special-risk employees work before they can retire from 25 to 30 years, or from age 55 to age 60, whichever comes sooner."

"Meanwhile, cities and counties who overpromised and underfunded their public pension accounts would get an injection of cash to repair their ailing programs under a pension reform bill passed Thursday before the Senate Governmental Oversight Committee. That committee voted to allow local governments to use revenue from the insurance premium tax and accumulated excesses to pay their unfunded liabilities."




Sweet! The city underfunds the pension plan. I give-up benefits in bargaining to get a 2% COLA at age 60 with my 175 money and now I have to hand it over to the city to straighten out their books. If it were any other time in history this city would be crying HOME RULE, HOME RULE!




FD Bro'

[Tom]

Mark your calendars for these future events scheduled to combat the anti-worker attitude and legislation moving through the 2011 Florida Legislative Session, make sure your union is represented:



Tuesday, March 22nd 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM City of Tampa Run-Off Election

This counts since we need to elect pro-worker leaders!! Get out and vote!


Friday, March 25th 4:30 to 6:30 PM Fight Back Florida Rally at Rep. Dana Young (H-57)

2909 W. Bay to Bay Blvd., Tampa, 33629



Friday, March 25th 4:30 to 6:30 PM Fight Back Florida Rally At Sen. Mike Bennett (S-21)

3653 Cortez Rd., West, Bradenton, 34210



Tuesday, March 29th 6:30 to 8:00 PM Young Worker Roundtable

CLC War Room, 5126 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, 33629



Monday, April 4th 9:00 to 10:00 AM & AFL-CIO National Day of Solidarity/Anniversary of

4:00 to 5:00 PM Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March

Al Lopez Park, 4810 N. Himes Ave., Tampa, 33614



Thursday, April 7th 12:00 Noon Statewide Rally in Tally (info on bus rides coming soon)

Capitol Mall, Tallahassee



Invite your family, neighbors, co-workers to get involved and let their voices be heard on issues that affect EVERYONE!

Wear your union shirt!

Bring your sign to wave at the rallies!

[FD Bro']

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/18/la..._lnk3%7C206588

Florida House bill would raise retirement age for state workers
... the committee voted to lengthen the time police, firefighters and other special-risk employees work before they can retire...from age 55 to age 60, whichever comes sooner."

I'm pretty sure a lg percentage would go out on tax-free disability retirement before age 60 due to the unique stresses of the job. And how about when the public calls 9-1-1 and the first responders are 60 years old?

[quote=Poor vision, aching back, need hearing aid, high blood pressure]

Florida House bill would raise retirement age for state workers
... the committee voted to lengthen the time police, firefighters and other special-risk employees work before they can retire...from age 55 to age 60, whichever comes sooner."

I'm pretty sure a lg percentage would go out on tax-free disability retirement before age 60 due to the unique stresses of the job. And how about when the public calls 9-1-1 and the first responders are 60 years old?[/quote:5rd4lyzk]


Hey, today's 60 year old cops are the new 45. Get it.

[quote=Guest]

Florida House bill would raise retirement age for state workers
... the committee voted to lengthen the time police, firefighters and other special-risk employees work before they can retire...from age 55 to age 60, whichever comes sooner."

I'm pretty sure a lg percentage would go out on tax-free disability retirement before age 60 due to the unique stresses of the job. And how about when the public calls 9-1-1 and the first responders are 60 years old?

Hey, today's 60 year old cops are the new 45. Get it.[/quote:3c3lw7o9]


You are obviously not a cop, let alone a 45 year old cop. 60 is way to old to be humping calls for service...your corporate comparrison is way off base to reality.

[Tom]

And how about when the public calls 9-1-1 and the first responders are 60 years old?

Republicans have thought this out and their answer is to eliminate seniority so the most valuable officers go first and the inexperienced rookies can do "the same job" for much lower pay. They might allow a few back in after a lay off but don't be surprised if you are then considered a "new hire" and not eligible for a pension.

This might not happen this year but if we lose payroll deduction for union dues and the right to influence candidates unions will not have the power to stop this next year.

Look at how republican legislators demonize experienced teachers and tenure, saying that the contract forces schools to keep undeserving teachers by seniority and forces the layoff of "the young enthusiastic" new teachers. These are the same politicians who expect high paying jobs for themselves at colleges and universities. Rick Baker was almost given a $400K job at St. Petersburg College until a scandal with the last president forced them to actually look at qualifications. Baker's consolation prize was a $200K job at USF. Go Davis has a job at USF. Marco Rubio got a job at a school that received funding through his efforts as a legislator. I'm not saying none of these people earn their money, just that they don't hold themselves to the standards they expect of other public servants.


A Times Editorial, Dubious insider hires Friday, January 2, 2009

House Speaker Ray Sansom's job at Northwest Florida State College has shed more unflattering light on the longtime practice of state universities and community colleges hiring legislators for lucrative jobs. The practice has always smacked of favoritism and self-interest. But now as Florida faces its worst financial crisis in decades, there is even less patience for these insider hires, and some ground rules ought to be established.

At least 15 current legislators and four recently retired ones earn money from the state's higher education system. Ten of the 19 held a higher ed job before joining the Legislature. That's an important distinction. Officially, the Legislature is a part-time job, and members are paid accordingly, $30,336. Most need other income. It's appropriate that a lawmaker such as Rep. Bill Heller, D-St. Petersburg, a longtime educator, kept teaching at the University of South Florida after he was elected in 2006.

But nine of those lawmakers started earning money from the system after they were elected — and in most cases, after they had heavy influence over higher education policy and budgets.

The most prominent example is Sansom, R-Destin, who received a $110,000 administrative college job on the same day he assumed the role of Florida House speaker. The college job, which was never advertised, came after Sansom spent two years as House budget chief steering millions of dollars to the small college's construction budget. E-mails from that period, disclosed in a Sunday story from the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau, show Sansom, who had one of the most powerful jobs in the Legislature, nonetheless took his cues from college president Bob Richburg, who is now his boss.

But that's just one example. Less than a year ago, Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, who hopes to be Senate president in 2010, scored an unadvertised $75,000 teaching job with the University of Florida without any standard review by fellow faculty. The sweetheart deal was the second for Haridopolos. Earlier, employer Brevard Community College gave Haridopolos a one-of-a-kind $150,000 advance to write a book no one expects will be published.

Then there was Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, a retired public school educator who faced no competition for a $120,000 part-time job running a Florida State University literacy program that she had tucked into the state budget. Once the deal came to light in March, she gave up the balance of her salary and donated her time to the center. She eventually quit.

Defenders of such arrangements say banning lawmakers from seeking work with a state university or college would be unreasonable since few other workplaces can accommodate the flexibility lawmakers need to devote to the Legislature. That was the case for Rep. Ed Homan, R-Tampa, a physician who said his private practice began falling apart in 2003 after a series of special sessions. He negotiated a $200,000 contract with USF's medical school where he had taught years before.

And there is a credible argument to be made that Florida lawmakers are underpaid for the time it takes to represent their constituents.

But that is no excuse for what happened in the cases cited above. Sansom, Haridopolos, Lynn and Homan all won government jobs through back-door channels at a time of severe financial crisis. They didn't have to compete for their plum state jobs that come with generous benefits and health care few in the private sector enjoy. That is wrong. Florida's universities and community colleges, like all of state government, need to hire the best people. Only open and transparent job searches assure that's happening.

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/edit...icle954553.ece

Come on now