Lawsuits may make it difficult for Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his majority Republican Cabinet and Legislature to make reality a bill that aims to have Florida government employees pay a portion of their salary to their pensions and hence retirement income.
The latest lawsuit, filed by the Florida Education Association this past week, was aimed at the pension reform bill that directly impacts retirement income. The pension reform bill requires the almost 700,000 people who are state or government employees in the state of Florida to contribute 3 percent of their income to pensions, which would translate into retirement income. The Florida Education Association is the largest teacher’s union in the state.
Florida is the last state in the U.S. where state and government workers do not have to pay a portion of their income to pensions to guarantee retirement income.
The battle over retirement income in Florida obviously stirred strong sentiment in both state and non-state employees. In a letter to the St. Petersburg Times, a resident shared his story about his company going under and what he had to do to remain solvent, concluding, “Now it’s time for public workers to make the same sacrifice. Sorry, but the ”company“ you are working for is broke.”
But in the same column the Times, a state employee wrote, “But for the police officers and teachers already under the old system, that [pension bill] is unethical.”
Gov. Scott is staying taut on his line on the pension bill, so it remains to be seen which way the ball swings for retirement income in Florida.
