UPDATE ON RETIREMENT LEGISLATION
RETIREMENT LEGISLATION AND THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE PUZZLE
The retirement bills that have passed their respective legislative chambers were part of the 2010-11 budget process and are known as budget conforming bills. These bills, listed below, are available to Legislators for horse trading during Conference Committee negotiations.
HB 5701 by Rep. Rivera, R-112, Miami
HB 5701 is a bill eliminating the Health Insurance Subsidy (HIS) for FRS retirees and it passed the House of Representatives. This bill will eliminate a benefit that FRS retirees receive; consisting of a $5 per month subsidy for each year of service they have been credited under the FRS benefit plan. The subsidy is capped at 30 years of total service, which equals up to $150 per month subsidy toward their monthly insurance coverage for retirees. For retirees receiving the maximum benefit, this amounts to loss of $1,800 per year – that’s an $1800 out-of pocket loss that the retiree will have to replace while trying to make ends meet on a fixed income!
Of special note about this bill, HB 5701 is an eexample of how leadership bullying and threats can change the outcome of a bill. HB 5701 failed passage initially on a 57-59 vote. Then, the arm twisting and threats began. The bill was reconsidered and passed on a 63-56 vote. Six of eight Pinellas representatives voted against HB 5701 BOTH times. We have included these votes elsewhere in this edition of the Pinellas Educator.
SB 2022 by Senator J.D. Alexander, R-17, Lake Wales
SB 2022 is a bill that establishes an employee contribution to the FRS retirement benefit plan for all classes of retirement participants, including the DROP and FRS investment plan participants, beginning July 1, 2010. SB 2022 passed a Senate floor vote on Wednesday, March 31, 2010, despite public testimony in Senate committee hearings against the bill from FEA, AFSCME, the Police Benevolent Association, and the Firefighters union. SB 2022 re-establishes an employee contribution – which has not existed since July 1, 1974. Although this bill does not propose any reductions to FRS retirement benefits, it does propose that beginning July 1, 2010, public employees participating in the FRS plan AND the optional/investment retirement plan begin making employee contributions to the respective plan. Employees participating in FRS retirement will be hit with an out-of-pocket, payroll deduction of 0.25 % of their gross annual compensation. If passed into law, the employee contribution rates would be set by law each year in an annual rate bill the Legislature would pass. The expectation is that the employee rate would continue rising in future years.
Urge your Pinellas Legislative Delegation to oppose HB 5701 and SB 2022. They need to let their conferees and their leadership know about their opposition. The Pinellas Legislative Delegation can be found at this link on the PCTA-PESPA website.
http://www.pcta-pespa.org/files/09-10%20Legislative%20Delegation_0.pdf
Dangerous Ground: Conference Committee Meetings
At this point in the 2010 Legislative Session, legislative activity moves even further behind closed doors than usual. Conference Committee meetings, a process particularly crucial to finalizing the budget-appropriations process, began April 16th but stalled almost instantly due to a number of issues.
Right now, the Legislature is waiting to hear from the U.S. Congress about Medicaid funding assistance from the federal government for the FL Medicaid program. This is one of the critical pieces holding up deliberations of the Budget Conference Committees. Another issue is the Seminole Gaming Compact. Senator Dennis Jones, who chairs both the Senate Governmental Operations Policy Council and the Regulated Industries Committee, is hopeful they will get the compact done this session.