Judge overturns public pension law

By Melissa Caceres/ News Director

A circuit judge in Tallahassee ruled unconstitutional a recent law requiring public employees to contribute 3 percent of their pay toward their retirement.

Set up to replace state contributions to the ORP and FRS retirement programs, the 3 percent pension requirement was established last year by lawmakers and left many public employees unsettled.

Tallahassee judge Jackie Fulford stated that the requirement violated both the collective bargaining rights of public employees and their state employment contract.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen. [Those in opposition] will of course appeal it and it will take forever,” said Kathleen Wilson, president of the FIU chapter of the United Faculty of Florida.

In her report on March 6, Wilson addressed the FIU Faculty Senate on the UFF’s support for the initiative and their work toward preventing Gov. Rick Scott from increasing the contribution percentage in the future.

“[The ruling] sends a very powerful message,” said Wilson.

University faculty and staff are among the 560,000 state and county public employees the law affects, including law enforcement officers and firefighters and city workers. Florida had not required workers to contribute to their retirement since 1974.

“[Fulford] ordered the state to stop the deductions immediately,” said Rosenberg in an email sent to the University community.

According to Fulford, the legislation “constitutes an unconstitutional impairment of plaintiffs’ contract with the state of Florida, an unconstitutional taking of private property without full compensation, and an abridgment of the rights of public employees to collectively bargain over conditions of employment.”

The lawsuit, brought up by the Florida Education Association, is to be decided by the Florida Supreme Court, a process that could take a year or more.

The 140,000-member statewide teachers union made the argument that Scott and the Legislature violated the state’s contract with public employees last year by ordering that 3 percent of their pay be put toward their pensions.

Last year, Scott pushed for the employee contribution requirement, originally asking for 5 percent. He emphasized that private sector workers and public employees in most other states contribute to their retirement plans.

The requirement allowed the state government to save around $1 billion, which was used to toward last year’s deficit.