 
Did you know that the total annual student headcount for the 2007-2008 enrollment year was 831,165 and the total number of degrees/certificates awarded was 72,760? The average student age was 25 and the total number of system employees was 44,951. This week's Fast Facts is presented to you from FDOE, THE FACT BOOK, report for the Florida College System 2009. Check back each week for a new fast fact that you can share with your members!
Did you know that the total annual student headcount for the 2007-2008 enrollment year was 831,165 and the total number of degrees/certificates awarded was 72,760? The average student age was 25 and the total number of system employees was 44,951. This week's Fast Facts is presented to you from FDOE, THE FACT BOOK, report for the Florida College System 2009. Check back each week for a new fast fact that you can share with your members! |
 2010 Legislative Session ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO! H.I.S. saved! Last night during budget conference session, the House backed off HB 5701 which would have eliminated the Health Insurance Subsidy for retirees. Many entities including the FACC, the AFCSME, the FEA, firefighters, law enforcement and other organizations representing Florida Retirement System participants pushed back very hard on this issue. The good news is that the message was heard loud and clear. We are still closely watching the other issue still on the table, SB2022 which includes the retirement co-pay for all employees of .25%. RETIREMENT ISSUES UPDATE – April 6, 2010 Last week, and as reported in Perception, three bills, HB 5701 by the Full Appropriations Council on Education and Economic Development, SB2022 by Alexander, and SB 1902 by Sen. Bennett have all been acted upon. HB 5701 by the Full Appropriations Council on Education and Economic Development (Chair David Rivera, R, This morning the Senate struck the House bill on the floor, waiving all committees of reference. The issue will now go into conference as a budget item. SB 2022 also passed the Senate last Thursday. This is the bill that will require both the employer and the employee to pay toward the FRS. The major impact of this bill is requires you to make a “co-pay” toward your state retirement effective January 1, 2011. This includes all employee classes and DROP. There is still no companion bill in the House. However, it is expected that the tenets of this bill will be a n issue in budget conferences between the House and Senate. Specifically the bill states that all classes of employees, including elected, special risk, senior management, and DROP participants will be subject to the .25% co-pay. The train on this bill is rolling down the track. Strategically, your FACC lobbying team will be meeting with Legislative leadership all week to try and minimize its impact. There may not be much we can do to stop it completely, but we continue to oppose this with numerous other organizations representing state, education, municipal, county, and public safety sector employees. However, we will be offering alternatives such as time limited co-pay, restrictions on increasing it over time, or exclusion of employees making below a certain pay grade. Finally, SB 1902 by Bennett will be considered again with a few changes to the original bill. It is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday, April 7 at 8:00AM by the Senate Community Affairs Committee. The key issues in the bill are: CALL TO ACTION Regarding SB 2022 and HB 5701 continue to contact your local legislative delegation members in opposition t o these bills. As soon we know who the “conferees” will be we will inform you so we can specifically address those legislators. Regarding SB 1902, the Community Affairs members are listed below. They should also be contacted in opposition to the bill.
Committee Members
Name District Phone / Assist Location Bennett, Michael 'Mike' (Chair) (R) 21 322 Senate Office Bldg. Siplin, Gary (Vice Chair) (D) 19 205 Senate Office Bldg. (R) 24 324 Senate Office Bldg. (D) 30 216 Senate Office Bldg. (R) 40 414 Senate Office Bldg. (R) 9 308 Senate Office Bldg. (D) 1 213 Senate Office Bldg. (D) 32 326 Senate Office Bldg. (R) 10 413 Senate Office Bldg. (R) 8 212 Senate Office Bldg. (R) 5 410 Senate Office Bldg. Yesterday on the floor of the Senate, SB 2022 by Sen. Alexander was voted favorably 23-14 largely along party lines. SB 2022 contains the provision that employees covered by the Florida Retirement System will make a .25% (one quarter of one percent) co-pay toward their retirement. If you are an employee making $50,000, your co-pay would be $125.00 annually. The argument in favor of the bill made by its proponents in the Senate is that the co-pay would provide $48M of relief for employers paying into the FRS. Our argument is that this is tantamount to a salary cut and opens the door for increases to the co-pay in the future.
The bill will now be sent to the House. So far, there has been no companion bill in the House, so the House will have to either pass the Senate bill, or reject it by not hearing it. The House could also modify it which would require it to be sent back to the Senate again for a vote on any changes. If a bill were passed by both Chambers, it could still be subject to veto by the Governor.
One late filed amendment by Sen. Fasano was withdrawn after pressure from numerous groups including the FACC. That amendment would have tied the co-pay to the consumer price index, and would have allowed the state to make automatic increases to the co-pay commensurate with it. In an inflationary period this could have been disastrous for employees in the system. Another amendment filed by Sen. Lawson would have eliminated the co-pay but kept intact the other provisions of the bill which cover procedural and actuarial issues. His amendment was defeated by a vote of 26-7. The FACC and most other organizations representing employees who participate in the FRS continue to lobby in opposition to the original bill. Contract lobbyist Ken Plante is working hard on our behalf to address our issues to the Legislative leadership.
We must now target your delegation members in the House and urge them to not support the SB 2022. The link provided below will take you to the online directory of House members. Please follow the tenets of decorum when you advocate on behalf of your institution and the FACC on this issue. Be respectful and knowledgeable at all times. Thank the representative for their service and efforts on behalf of the state budget issues. Utilize the information resources provided via the FACC web site. A phone call or a fax is the best method to make contact. Emails often do not get read for several days due to volume.
Thank you all for your interest and support on these matters on behalf of the FACC and the employees of the FCS.
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/representatives.aspx
March 25, 2010
To that end, your FACC is hard at work on these matters. The FACC Executive Committee met on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. In that meeting, we developed a strategy to move forward on aggressively lobbying these issues on your behalf. Those steps include the following actions: 1. Conduct a series of update teleconferences with Chapter leaders and representatives to provide a clear understanding of the issues we are facing. 2. Upload a web page that will include regular updates and tracking of the bills being monitored. 3. Provide usable content such as email blasts, PowerPoint, letter and fax template, and other resources as needed to assist you in sharing these concerns with your legislative delegation and other interested parties. 4. Contract with former FACC lobbyist, State Senator Ken Plante, to represent our concerns to the legislative leadership and lobby to minimize the impact of these bills on current employees and our retirees. 5. Make plans for a possible rally in All college employees should take these proposed changes very seriously. We can not do this alone. You are encouraged to share your concerns with your Legislators. Additionally, you are also encouraged to consider ideas for how the Retirement System in Among the bills being considered, below is a summary of major points that would affect our colleges.
o One proposal amends the “average salary” calculation so that pensions are based on the life-time earnings, rather than the average of the highest five years. This would be dramatic. If this moves forward, it is possible it would be applied only to new employees, or those not vested, but could apply to all employees. o There is also a provision to disallow overloads (e.g. overtime, leave payouts, sick leave payout, contract payouts) in the averaging calculation.
o Proposals would require FRS regular class employees reach 33 years, instead of the current 30 years, and the retirement age would increase to 65 instead of the current 62. o Total elimination of the Defined Retirement Benefit Plan (FRS) after 1/1/2011.
WHAT YOU CAN DO 1. Get knowledgeable about these issues. 2. Contact you local legislative delegation to express your concerns. Fax and phone calls are the best method. Emails often don’t get read for several days. 3. Be positive. Do not express anger or frustration to your legislator or their staffs. Express your concerns knowledgeably and articulately. Thank them for the opportunity to share your concerns. REMEMBER, EVERYONE IS AN AMBASSADOR OF 4. DO NOT USE COLLEGE RESOURCES WHEN COMMUNICATING TO YOUR LEGISLATOR. THIS INCLUDES PHONES, COMPUTERS, STATIONERY, & FAX MACHINES.
8. SB 2022 by Alexander - Perception Legislative E-zine Issue #2
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
