Nobody lost benefits already earned or the right to collectively bargain when the state required workers to pay 3 percent of their salaries into the retirement system, an attorney for the state argued Wednesday.
However, a Leon County judge, who has previously ruled against the states prison privatization plan, appeared to question some of the states arguments for how lawmakers changed the government employee pension program earlier this year.
Circuit Court Judge Jackie Fulford said she wasnt going to overturn prior Florida Supreme Court rulings, which she said allowed legislators to modify contracts. But she disagreed with precedent being offered by the state attorneys that the courts had allowed legislators to unilaterally change contracts.
It does not say you can gut it, it doesnt say you can do away with it, Fulford said. It says, you can modify or alter this specific plan.
The Florida Education Association and other unions contend that legislators violated the state Constitution, which required the changes to be negotiated through collective bargaining.
Attorney Doug Hinson, representing the state, said the state isnt taking benefits already earned from employees, only changing how benefits are now handled.
The Supreme Court has issued a decision that contractual rights promise people the benefits they earned up through today, Hinson said. It did not give them the contractual rights to benefits they might earn in the future.
Ron Meyer, representing the teachers' union, said the state got greedy in imposing the contribution on all employees without their consent. He added that the union isnt contesting the changes imposed on employees hired after July 1, 2011.
I think she was able to see quite plainly, I dont know on what planet making a person pay for their retirement would be considered a benefit and that is essentially the states argument, Meyer said.
He added that government agencies that increased pay to cover the increased pension costs shouldnt be considered an equivalent benefit.
Here, we didnt have change in benefits, but a change in the entire system, from a noncontributory to a contributory system, from a system that always, for the past 40 years, had a cost-of-living adjustment to no cost-of-living adjustment.
The unions, as part of their request, have requested the money contributed from workers' paychecks to be returned.
Fulford offered no timeline to issue a ruling on the lawsuit by the Florida Education Association and other employee unions that claim state lawmakers illegally broke a contract when they required government employees to contribute toward their pension.
Legislators, seeking to patch a $3.8 billion shortfall in the budget, set contributions at 3 percent for the 700,000 state, county and municipal employees that are covered by the $121.6 billion Florida Retirement System.
Gov. Rick Scott had recommended legislators make the employee contribution 5 percent.
Government employees covered by the system have been 100 percent covered by the state since July 1, 1974.
The union also contends that when legislators changed the rules during the 2011 session, their retirement benefits were cut.
Charlette Moore, a certified public account testifying for the teachers' union, said the new retirement package readjusts cost-of-living raises in a manner that cuts long-term benefits.
Moore said the formula used by the state calculates time before and after employees were required to pay 3 percent pension payments starting July 1, 2011. The change, she said, alters the cost-of-living from a fixed 3 percent to less than 3 percent. For some employees, that could mean thousands of dollars in the long term.
Paul Zeisler, an independent actuary hired by the state, disagreed, saying that when cost-of-living adjustments are calculated with accrued benefits, the long-term retirement payments remain equal.
However, Fulford said that isnt an equal comparison as employees would still get the accrued benefits regardless of the cost-of-living rate.
Last month, Fulford rejected the states plan to privatize 29 prison facilities in 19 South Florida counties, saying the legislation should have been filed as a separate bill rather than as part of the budget.
The Florida Department of Corrections has yet to make a decision on appealing the ruling.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859 or (772) 215-9889.
