Pension reform didn’t die on the issue of new employees.
Now, City Council member Lori Boyer has filed a bill that would establish the benefit levels for new employees hired after Oct. 1. The levels simply would be those that the Police and Fire Pension Fund board and Mayor Alvin Brown have long agreed upon.
Boyer’s bill is buoyed by a Florida Supreme Court ruling that let the Legislature amend provisions within the Florida Retirement System, along with a circuit judge’s ruling that voided the 30-year agreement.
That ruling by Circuit Judge Thomas Beverly said current levels of public employee benefits can’t be changed until collectively bargained or the employer determines benefits without objection from the unions.
That happened when the unions waived their right to bargain, followed by fund administrator John Keane and Brown hammering out a deal last summer.
According to the bill, it’s the same terms council was presented and the unions had no objection to, indicating by waiver they would not file any unfair labor practice changes, lawsuits or other legal challenges.
Those benefits for new employees still could be collectively bargained until the bill went into effect Oct. 1, if council approved it.
For now, though, there’s a standstill on overall reform, Boyer said.
Council rejected the latest deal, the 30-year agreement was voided and there haven’t been plans for more talks, she said, when retirement reform is needed.
“Hopefully, it will prompt a positive response,” Boyer said. “I’m sitting here looking in a vacuum at the moment.”
Chris Hand, Brown’s chief of staff, weighed in on the bill late Thursday afternoon.
“Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we are flattered and pleased that Councilwoman Boyer now supports the same pension benefits package for new public safety employees that Mayor Brown has twice presented to City Council,” he said.
However, Hand said, the administration is concerned an attempt to impose benefits on new employees without going through collective bargaining is “legally problematic.”
Administration officials will consult the Office of General Counsel and the city’s outside pension attorney for guidance.
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