Excerpt:
Senate Bill 84, filed by Sen. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, would require new public employees enroll in a 401(k)-type investment plan rather than in the Florida Retirement System (FRS), the nation’s fourth-largest public pension plan that serves about 5.1 million Floridians, including 4.425 million retirees.
According to SB 84’s legislative analysis, the 51-year-old FRS carries $36 billion in “unfunded liabilities,” the gap between assets and obligations, an exposure critics insist put the state at risk.
The bill offers an “investment plan” as an option to more than 644,000 active employees, 432,258 annuity recipients, 15,512 disabled retirees and 33,593 enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP).
Author(s): John Haughey
Publication Date: 2 March 2021
Publication Site: The Center Square