Governor Rick Scott recently signed a number of bills affecting Florida employers.
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Get Your Report Now!Senate Bill (SB) 2100 requires state workers and other participants in the Florida Retirement System, effective July 1, 2011, to contribute three percent of their salaries toward their pensions. The bill will save taxpayers and participating employers more than $2 billion next year, as follows:
- school boards: $819.4 million
- counties: $597.7 million
- state: $356.8 million
- other employers: $108.8 million
- universities: $66.2 million
- colleges: $56.4 million
SB 1128. Governor Scott also signed SB 1128, which prevents retirement funds for local governments from being used for other purposes and imposes new disclosure requirements.
“Without reform, Florida’s government pensions and retirement system put a heavy burden on our state’s taxpayers. As a result, dedicated public servants were forced to face the uncertainty of future retirement benefits,” said Governor Scott. “The steps we are taking this year move us closer to modernizing the system and ensuring it will be around decades down the road for future retirees.”
SB 2156. The governor also signed SB 2156, which consolidates the state’s economic development functions into the Department of Economic Opportunity. The law cuts the required time to approve requests for state incentive funds to 10 days, a significant improvement over the present process, which can take up to 42 days. In addition, the legislation authorizes the governor to approve incentive awards under $2 million without legislative approval or consultation. Awards from $2 million to $5 million may be approved if notice is given to the Legislative Budget Commission (LBC), while awards that exceed $5 million require LBC approval.