IF IT WORKS, DISMANTLE IT!-FL LAWMAKERS

HARDLINE NUTJOB FLORIDA LEGISLATORS (AGAIN) DECLARE WAR ON STATE WORKERS / TRY TO DISMANTLE BEST SOLVENT PENSION SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY

 

 

Hello All,

The attached item is a story regarding recent attacks on public employee pension systems.  This time unfortunately, the attack stories were being aired on PBS…various stations around the country, and funded by the named individual’s foundation that is very anti-pension.  The story does point out that just recently, PBS pulled the series and has declined further funding by this anti-pension entity.  Here is the link:

http://pando.com/2014/02/12/the-wolf-of-sesame-street-revealing-the-secret-corruption-inside-pbss-news-division/

 

You might be interested to know that much as last year’s HB 7011, a new bill, in the Senate SPB 7046 and SB 1114, with a likely soon announced companion House bill seeks again, as was attempted last legislative session in 2013, to dismantle the defined benefit plan thru which we current retirees receive our benefits, as well as 99+% of all current State workers in the future…maybe.

The Senate bill is number 7049 or (1114) and you can retrieve it off the Florida Senate web page.  You can also review last year's failed House Bill, #7011.  Both bills were/are seeking to remove the defined benefit plan as an option for new State workers.  The issue with last year’s commissioned Study is that it did not address appropriately how the defined benefit component of the retirement plan would be fully funded in the future for all of us current retirees and those following us who are in the defined benefit plan.  Below is a quote that was placed in the bill analysis, a quote from the actuaries:

                “The actuarial study projects increasing savings for the 30 year period of the study.  However, the actuary verbally confirmed that the rate of return would start experiencing increasing downward pressure starting after the 10^th year, and other assumptions would start proving increasingly unreliable sometime between the 5^th and 10^th year.  However, the rates produced by the comparative analysis to the current plan, using the same assumptions, yield the theoretical savings noted above.”

 

As you can see the actuaries did not place much confidence in the data, and likely were not allowed to fully and accurately portray the end results…which were labeled as creating $9 billion in savings over 30 years…problem is the unfunded liability portion, per the 125 page report I finally obtained from House Speaker Will Weatherford’s staff showed a frightening increase over the years…and had it passed, likely, down the road, a future Legislature would have reached a conclusion that the program was not sustainable and at that point reduce benefits significantly for all current retirees as well as future retirees in the defined benefit plan. 

And a note…last year’s report from the actuaries did not contain the damning quote noted in the bill analysis...I am guessing they were not allowed to do that, but to preserve their reputation insisted the quote be added to the bill analysis.  The bad business as usual issue again with this year's Senate bill is that the commissioned study has not been completed, so its results are not out there for consideration.  Again, Republicans are pushing to end the defined benefit plan without any data at all to support their move.

We all need to pay attention to what is going on downtown again...in both the House and Senate…as the very hard line Republicans are bound and determined to do away with the defined benefit plan…remember if there is no such plan in the near future, then employee contributions which help sustain the fund, will begin to dry up.

Thanks for reading this, and hope you will become engaged to protect your investment and your future annual incomes.

 

Alan Strowd