• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Partisan Vote Approves 401k Plan for State Workers’ Retirement as Showdown Looms

February 10, 2013 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

The big winner. (Bête à Bon-Dieu)
The big winner. (Bête à Bon-Dieu)

A bill placing all new state employees in a 401(k)-style retirement plan passed a House subcommittee on a party-line vote Thursday, setting up a major showdown between legislative Republicans and public workers’ unions.

But even as they supported the bill — a key priority of House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel — some GOP members warned that they wanted to know more before it comes to the floor.

The measure (PCB GVOPS 13-01) passed the House Government Operations Subcommittee after a contentious and at times emotional three-and-a-half-hour meeting. The bill would require all employees who begin working for the state on or after Jan. 1 to join a “defined contribution” plan.

Supporters of the proposal say it will stabilize future retirement costs at a time that the current pension plan is relatively sound and can support current employees and retirees.

“Because we’re addressing this early enough, we don’t have to make any changes for them,” said Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, who chairs the subcommittee.

But opponents argued that the proposal could destabilize the pension plan by removing the flow of funding that would come from new members. And they said the strength of the fund was a reason not to change it.

“It’s not just before we have a problem,” said Rich Templin of the AFL-CIO. “There is no modeling that shows there will ever be a problem.”

In some ways, the fight over whether to force new employees into a defined contribution retirement plan is a remnant of the battle two years ago over whether to require employees to contribute 3 percent of their income toward their retirement. While lawmakers approved that change, they balked at the idea of closing the “defined benefit” plan to new workers.

“It seems like every time the Florida Retirement System is trying to do better, we do something to try to tear it apart,” said Rowan Taylor, president of Metro Dade Firefighters.

Opponents of the change also complained that the committee went forward before receiving a study showing how the proposal might affect the pension plan — and whether it might cost current employees more in the long run if the fund falters.

“We’re not fools,” said Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, in a speech that drew applause from bill opponents. “This is just a cost-shift. And my advice is, find someone else’s pocket to pick. Leave our workers alone.”

Weatherford has made it clear that the bill is one of his major initiatives this year. It comes at the same time that the Senate is considering legislation that would give cities more flexibility in how they use the insurance premium taxes that fund local police and firefighters’ pensions.

But some Republicans on the panel said their support was contingent at least in part on the results of the study by the Department of Management Services, due Feb. 15. Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, was among those saying he was voting for the bill with a caveat.

“The caveat is that I want answers to these very important questions,” he said.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. m&m says

    February 10, 2013 at 10:49 am

    401K,s are a great way to invest in your retirement as opposed to pensions..

    Reply
  2. Jason says

    February 10, 2013 at 11:41 am

    If you only thought the state hired knuckle draggers before wait until you see what low wages and poor benefits gets you.

    Reply
  3. Firefighter says

    February 10, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    As a 15 year member of the FRS special risk class let me say this. I WILL stay in the pension plan. Remember they cannot force current vested members to switch. My hope is that by the Conservative thiefs in the Florida Legislature raiding the FRS and leaving it under funded they will have to pay dearly. Either they can buy me out at a very healthy lump sum, or every year come up with money to pay my yearly retirement benifits. BTW the lump sum payout would be right at 1 million. I WILL not switch to the investment plan. That will be my revenge to conservatives.

    Just by freezing the COLA and requiring 3% they have taken billions out of the pockets of the middle class public servants of Florida…

    Reply
  4. Whodat says

    February 10, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    All this will do is create a “brain drain” on hiring the best and most qualified candidates for State and County jobs. It will eventually show in education down the road toward our most important asset – children. The Florida Retirement System is one of the best managed retirement funds in the nation. Why would Tea Party Republicans want to change that other than to raid the funds for own agendas. It’s all hype and markings of Koch brothers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries

    Reply
  5. Palmcoastconcernedcitizen says

    February 10, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    I wonder with all of these cuts, who is going to come to the aid of the public, when they scare all of the public workers out of the state! They already work for peanuts and now even worse benefits.

    Reply
  6. Cash cow says

    February 10, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    So when one works than the fewer years needed to be vested then those funds they paid in would just be gone for the current retirement system? I would think it would be pretty substantial for the current system to loose such funds. If the current system is sound and isn’t broke, why do some want to break it?

    Reply
  7. Alex says

    February 10, 2013 at 8:46 pm

    Public sector workers can’t be a protected class in our capitalist economy.

    Reply
  8. Bob Z. says

    February 11, 2013 at 10:49 am

    Hang in there everyone…our next Democratic Gov. will do his or her best to right the wrongs that have, and will be done.

    Reply
  9. Sherry Epley says

    February 11, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    Any push to change retirement plans into higher risk 401K plans has as its motive the desire to have even LESS responsibility/loyality to employees. . . and of course to bolster Wall Street. This is clearly yet another symptom of the degradation of the foundations of the work place in the USA:

    – Union Busting
    – “Right to Work” laws= right to fire without cause (often to avoid paying benefits/decent wages)
    – Outsourcing= movingAmerican jobs to indentured servitude in 3rd world countries(for increased profits)
    – Cost cutting= less training, pressure to produce/sell, focus on quantity not quality
    – Less Department of Labor resources/protections
    – Fewer in-house human resource departments
    Ect., ect., etc.

    How are we to create meaningful, life sustaining jobs in our country when there is very little interest in making our work place, economy and country better. . . JUST on maximizing profits. . . regardless of what that does to the future of our nation???Our economy isCONSUMER BASED. If we continue to have downward pressure on wages, where does the money come from to continue CONSUMING to keep our economy healthy? Where there is no concern for employees from the employer, then there is to loyalty by the employees to the employer. And the economic divide just gets bigger, and the rich get richer! Consider the possibility that MONEY is becoming the new GOD of our species.

    Reply
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
  • grand living realty

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Concerned Citizen on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • Dennis C Rathsam on Flagler’s Property Values Still Rose Robustly, Continuing Potential Windfall For Local Governments
  • The dude on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • Travis on Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Wants Supreme Court to Kill Recreational Pot Initiative
  • Jimbo99 on 251-Unit Wilton Apartment Project Breaks Ground in Town Center, Employing 300 During Construction
  • sean on 251-Unit Wilton Apartment Project Breaks Ground in Town Center, Employing 300 During Construction
  • YankeeExPat on Voters Approved an Amendment For Racial Equity in Districts. DeSantis Wants It Ignored.
  • One term and done on As Investigation of Principal Paul Peacock Nears Conclusion, His Absence from Reappointment List Draws Speculation
  • Dennis C Rathsam on Palm Coast’s Belk Converted Into One of 16 Outlet Stores as Company Struggles
  • Joshua Rosenbloom on Ron DeSantis Is in a War With Disney He Cannot Win
  • Jay Tomm on Flagler’s Property Values Still Rose Robustly, Continuing Potential Windfall For Local Governments
  • pete on Flagler Replaces Confusing Letter-Based Evacuation Zones With Neighborhood Names as Hurricane Season Begins
  • Day One. on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • Day One. on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • anon on Upside of Unrequited Survives Book Ban at FPC, But 57% of Challenged Titles Were Removed From Flagler Schools This Year
  • Mark Huston on 240-Unit Apartment Complex Planned Next to BJ’s Wholesale Club on State Road 100 in Palm Coast

Log in