Republicans coming after our pension

Senate tries again on local pensions

BY BRANDON LARRABEE
NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE -- A Senate committee pushed forward Wednesday with a bill that would overhaul how local governments fund pensions for police officers and firefighters, hoping that a different political climate in 2014 will allow the legislation to succeed after it died in the House during the spring legislative session.

The legislation (SB 246), which won unanimous approval from the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, comes as cities say their pensions are dangerously underfunded and after the Department of Management Services has issued letters to several cities reinterpreting a key section of the law.

That reinterpretation gave local governments more freedom in how they used revenue generated by a tax on insurance premiums.

The proposal approved Wednesday would require retirement plans that are underfunded for future benefits by more than 20 percent to use half of any increase in insurance premium taxes over the amount they raised in 2012 to pay down that deficit. The rest could be used to fund other benefits.

Cities oppose that plan, saying the new interpretation of the state’s current law by the Department of Management Services gives them more flexibility in deciding how to use money raised by the insurance premium tax. Police and firefighters unions, though, say the plan goes too far. Until the new state interpretation of the law, new insurance tax revenues had to be used to fund additional benefits.

A similar, bipartisan bill passed the Senate last year but got bogged down in a conflict between the two chambers over the future of the Florida Retirement System, the retirement plan for other public employees.

House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, pressed the Senate to approve a measure that would have prevented new employees from enrolling in the traditional pension plan in the Florida Retirement System and required them to join a 401(k)-style plan, but the upper chamber refused.

Sponsors say they hope to avoid getting into a similar situation when the 2014 legislative session begins in March.

"We're very early in the process. But, in talking to my friends in the House, I am confident that we're going to be able to decouple the municipal pension issue from the FRS issues, and we're going be able to deal with this municipal pension issue on its own merits," said Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island.

Bradley has worked with Sen. Jeremy Ring, the Margate Democrat who chairs the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, to craft the legislation.

Both sides of the issue are, at best, lukewarm about the idea. Kraig Conn, a lobbyist for the Florida League of Cities, rapped the proposal for essentially doing away with the part of the law that allowed for the Department of Management Services' new interpretation.

Lawmakers are concerned that the new reading of the law could be overturned by a court.

"From the cities' perspective we are losing the statutory basis for this current flexibility that we believe is essential to getting these pension plans back on a sound financial footing," Conn told the committee.

Matt Puckett, executive director of the Florida Police Benevolent Association, said his group could likely work within the boundaries of the legislation, but he also said that many cities' pension plans might look worse off than they are, considering the economic recovery that's taking hold and the increase in the stock market in recent years.

"We think a lot of the problems can be self-correcting," Puckett said.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/12/3 ... rylink=cpy

This is the type of shit, that affects all of us, and that we should monitor more closely. These pricks, Hate Cops & Firemen, until they're in need of us and dial 911. In the meantime Republicans, led by this Rick Scott, is showing a budget surplus in the state budget buy stealing from our pension fund, to give tax breaks to his corporate buddies. You want a meaningful raise that will last until your retirement years, then vote out anyone; Republican or Democrat, that votes to come after our pension plan.

It is not the Republicans, Most of us here at FMPD are Republicans. Do you really want to be a Dem or vote for a Dem?? We deal with those at work on the streets. It is a very few very far right wing Rep or Dems that do not want us to have a Pension. So don't vote for Dems or Obama care will take over our Pension one day LOL.

Look at our local City leaders, other than the Mayor they are all Dem's and vote against us every day. They are in control of our Pension.
But we are too! It is OUR money and we need a union board that will stand up to the City leaders and a Pension Board that is not made up of the Chiefs Boys and follow the city lead.

It is not the Republicans, Most of us here at FMPD are Republicans. Do you really want to be a Dem or vote for a Dem?? We deal with those at work on the streets. It is a very few very far right wing Rep or Dems that do not want us to have a Pension. So don't vote for Dems or Obama care will take over our Pension one day LOL.

Look at our local City leaders, other than the Mayor they are all Dem's and vote against us every day. They are in control of our Pension.
But we are too! It is OUR money and we need a union board that will stand up to the City leaders and a Pension Board that is not made up of the Chiefs Boys and follow the city lead.

Brother, the person pushing the pension reform is a Republican, his name is Will weatherford
it's in the news article.

True on a state level but locally our City leaders are asking and pushing for it with their own hired lobbyists.

It is not the Republicans, Most of us here at FMPD are Republicans. Do you really want to be a Dem or vote for a Dem?? We deal with those at work on the streets. It is a very few very far right wing Rep or Dems that do not want us to have a Pension. So don't vote for Dems or Obama care will take over our Pension one day LOL.

Look at our local City leaders, other than the Mayor they are all Dem's and vote against us every day. They are in control of our Pension.
But we are too! It is OUR money and we need a union board that will stand up to the City leaders and a Pension Board that is not made up of the Chiefs Boys and follow the city lead.

Now I have heard it all: (a)Republicans are not the ones ruining our pension (b) Obamacare and the Democrats will take over our pensions (c) everyone that we deal with on the streets are Democrats.
SPOKEN BY A TRU TEABAGGER (CALLED WAKE UP).

All this by Republicans that only make $19.00 an hour, not too much more than the "people" that you deal with on the streets. So go get em dude...you are funny

All of this would not matter if we had a strong union Representing us like before. Perry just spoke last week about how our current board has no clault locally and in the state to support our pension. It is all up to the chiefs pension board which does what the city wants.

It is not the Republicans, Most of us here at FMPD are Republicans. Do you really want to be a Dem or vote for a Dem?? We deal with those at work on the streets. It is a very few very far right wing Rep or Dems that do not want us to have a Pension. So don't vote for Dems or Obama care will take over our Pension one day LOL.

Look at our local City leaders, other than the Mayor they are all Dem's and vote against us every day. They are in control of our Pension.
But we are too! It is OUR money and we need a union board that will stand up to the City leaders and a Pension Board that is not made up of the Chiefs Boys and follow the city lead.

Now I have heard it all: (a)Republicans are not the ones ruining our pension (b) Obamacare and the Democrats will take over our pensions (c) everyone that we deal with on the streets are Democrats.
SPOKEN BY A TRU TEABAGGER (CALLED WAKE UP).

All this by Republicans that only make $19.00 an hour, not too much more than the "people" that you deal with on the streets. So go get em dude...you are funny

As a Republican, I'm appalled that members of my own political party are coming after my benefits and also attacking my family.

It is not the Republicans, Most of us here at FMPD are Republicans. Do you really want to be a Dem or vote for a Dem?? We deal with those at work on the streets. It is a very few very far right wing Rep or Dems that do not want us to have a Pension. So don't vote for Dems or Obama care will take over our Pension one day LOL.

Look at our local City leaders, other than the Mayor they are all Dem's and vote against us every day. They are in control of our Pension.
But we are too! It is OUR money and we need a union board that will stand up to the City leaders and a Pension Board that is not made up of the Chiefs Boys and follow the city lead.

Now I have heard it all: (a)Republicans are not the ones ruining our pension (b) Obamacare and the Democrats will take over our pensions (c) everyone that we deal with on the streets are Democrats.
SPOKEN BY A TRU TEABAGGER (CALLED WAKE UP).

All this by Republicans that only make $19.00 an hour, not too much more than the "people" that you deal with on the streets. So go get em dude...you are funny

As a Republican, I'm appalled that members of my own political party are coming after my benefits and also attacking my family.

Exactly right. I am a citizen who happens to think that public service retirement and benefits packages are WAY too generous. I know that won't be popular on this site, but this is America. I work at a convenience store and have no benefits. I almost threw up when I found out you people can retire after only 25 years, get 75 % of your salary and have full medical benefits. I am also a Democrat, but I'll be voting for ALL Republicans this year. They are the only chance folks like us have in stopping this gross overpayment to Cops and Firemen. Too bad they didn't get their way the last couple of sessions. They would have done away with the pensions, cut sky high salaries, and privatized prisons. Go Republicans! They will lead us out of this financial mess.

It is not the Republicans, Most of us here at FMPD are Republicans. Do you really want to be a Dem or vote for a Dem?? We deal with those at work on the streets. It is a very few very far right wing Rep or Dems that do not want us to have a Pension. So don't vote for Dems or Obama care will take over our Pension one day LOL.

Look at our local City leaders, other than the Mayor they are all Dem's and vote against us every day. They are in control of our Pension.
But we are too! It is OUR money and we need a union board that will stand up to the City leaders and a Pension Board that is not made up of the Chiefs Boys and follow the city lead.

Now I have heard it all: (a)Republicans are not the ones ruining our pension (b) Obamacare and the Democrats will take over our pensions (c) everyone that we deal with on the streets are Democrats.
SPOKEN BY A TRU TEABAGGER (CALLED WAKE UP).

All this by Republicans that only make $19.00 an hour, not too much more than the "people" that you deal with on the streets. So go get em dude...you are funny

As a Republican, I'm appalled that members of my own political party are coming after my benefits and also attacking my family.

Exactly right. I am a citizen who happens to think that public service retirement and benefits packages are WAY too generous. I know that won't be popular on this site, but this is America. I work at a convenience store and have no benefits. I almost threw up when I found out you people can retire after only 25 years, get 75 % of your salary and have full medical benefits. I am also a Democrat, but I'll be voting for ALL Republicans this year. They are the only chance folks like us have in stopping this gross overpayment to Cops and Firemen. Too bad they didn't get their way the last couple of sessions. They would have done away with the pensions, cut sky high salaries, and privatized prisons. Go Republicans! They will lead us out of this financial mess.

Do us all a favor and don't call when you have a fire or someone breaking into your house. Yeah your 7-11 job is compatible to putting your life on the line everyday. We EARN our pensions...grow up and get a degree and a real job and you will have a retirement also. We have all made sacrifices to work in law enforcement. Go stock the cooler now and get off this website!