The following is a letter we received from a Tax-paying Florida Citizen, who is not associated with the Florida Retirement System.  We found it to be refreshing, and wanted to share it with our readers.  Thank you for your perspectives Mr. Cassidy!

To Florida Retirement System Options,

I am not in the Florida Retirement System.  I am also not related to anyone in it. I am really just a concerned Florida taxpayer, who does not believe that scapegoating public employees is fair or right. I do not believe that one small group of people should be punished, and essentially “taxed,” just because they chose a job or a career in public service.

Retirement benefits promised to public employees are not “pork,” but are in effect “a contractual agreement” with public employees. I do not believe that it is legal to break contracts or moral to break promises.

The economic downturn is not the fault of public employees; and, as a registered Republican, I am embarrassed that many Republican politicians, not only here in Florida, but across the nation, are attacking the pay, benefits, and pensions of public employees. Scapegoating public employees seems to be more of an assault on working people and the middle-class, and to protect big business and the ultra-wealthy, than it is an effort to balance the budgets of many states.

Additionally, I believe that a defined benefit retirement plan is better than a defined contribution plan, because it guarantees retirees a known amount of money they will be receiving and living on in their retirement, which is essential for older people and senior citizens. Converting the state’s retirement plan from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, even for new employees, would be costly and would threaten the plan’s investment potential. If Florida’s public employee retirement system is not broken, politicians should not be trying to fix it; and, even if it is broken, cutting benefits or changing the plan is not the solution, especially when it seems politically driven.

Unfortunately, certain media outlets and radio and television personalities have been whipping up the anger and resentment of people not in public employment; and, as a result, there is a huge wave of malice and discontent aimed at public employees by people who have been duped into believing that they are being taken advantage of by public employees. I do not believe this. Due to what is happening in other states, and by what I hear on television and read in online newspapers, it looks more like a politically motivated attack against public employees by certain politicians who are catering to special interest groups and who are more interested in their own political careers and ambitions, than they are in doing what is right, fair, and just. I dislike partisan politics, and I think that it works against America and is going to hinder our nation’s recovery from the economic downturn that it is now in.

Kindest Regards,

Lawrence Cassidy

Today the Florida Senate returned a “Strike-All” Amendment to Senate Bill 1130 which is meant to reform the Florida Retirement System.  The purpose of the “Strike-All” was to amend the language and stipulations of the original bill, filed by Senator Jeremy Ring.  There were also 5 additional amendments proposed changing other aspects of the proposal.

• The biggest change, as we read it, would indicate the amended version will allow for up to 500 hours of accumulated leave payments to be used in the computation of the Average Final Compensation.  (lines 208-248, and 274-308).  And further appears that for service prior to July 1, 2011 overtime is included.

This seems to be a significant compromise to the original proposal, but excludes overtime after July 1.  It does not mitigate the fact that overtime is time worked for compensation earned, and therefore, as compensation, should be used for the AFC calculation.

• Amendment 581812 to SB 1130 appears to stipulate that “employee retirement contributions for any member of the Regular Class or Special Risk Class may not exceed 2% of such member’s annual state compensation.  This line amends and addends the language mandating employee contributions.

We see this as meaning the employee contributions cannot EXCEED 2% of compensation, and allows room that the contribution may be less.

• Amendment 641980 of SB 1130 looks to raise the vesting in the Pension Plan from 6 years to 8 years, but appears to allow for “grandfathering” in all those who would have been vested under the old law at as of July 1, 2011.

It would appear this is a compromise between the current 6 years, and Governor Scott’s proposal for 10 years for vesting.

The other pertinent points would remain basically the same as those originally proposed in Florida Senate Bill 1130, but the bill is still in the committee with no votes yet taken.  We consider it a battle victory for members of the Florida Retirement System who have called and written their Senators and made their feelings know.  Senator Ring acknowledged the high number of calls he and other legislators have received.  The war is still on.  Keep manning the phones!