One of the first things Jeb Bush did after being elected as Florida’s governor was to push for sweetening the retirement benefits for cops and firefighters after statewide law enforcement unions endorsed him over the Democrat challenger Buddy MacKay per the PalmBeachPost.com.
The years after Bush’s deal have led to municipal pensions receiving an “F” by the Leroy Collins Institute, a Tallahassee-based policy think tank. Municipalities all across Florida have been having a hard time funding the pensions and it has been hurting their financial stability.That failed pension plan may become a thing of the past. On Wednesday, the Senate approved CS/SB 172 which would loosen the requirements of Bush’s law.
Senator Jeremy Ring (D-Margate) has been working on the legislative rewrite for years. He had the following to say about it:
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A similar bill, HB 341, is expected to get final approval from the House soon as well.
Three years ago the state’s Department of Management Services rewrote the city of Naples a new interpretation of the Bush-era law giving the local governments some slack. The interpretation allowed cities to scale back on financing extra benefits if governments can prove they do not have sufficient tax revenue to cover them.Many city leaders believe the Naples approach could be legally challenged in light of Bush’s law and have been afraid to implement it. That is why they have been urging the legislature to rewrite Bush’s law it in its entirety.
The new bill advanced on Wednesday rewrites the law to include the terms of the Naples approach. It also would increase minimal accrual rates for benefits and put a cap on overtime hours for calculating police benefits.
You can read the full text of the original proposed bills by clicking on the links below:
House bill HB 341