Florida Retirement System: Veto for Changes to FRS DROP (floridacapitalnews.com)

Article published May 29, 2010
TOP STORY
Crist refuses to cut DROP for state workers
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital Bureau

Gov. Charlie Crist refused Friday to slash interest earnings on government-employee pensions in the Deferred Retirement Option Program, saying lawmakers unfairly popped the change into the budget late in the session.

"It's like Gov. Lawton Chiles used to say: 'This time the people win,' only this time, the people are the state employees," said state Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee. "That was the right decision by the governor."

DROP is an option for state, county and local employees who participate in the Florida Retirement System.

Williams and Sen. Al Lawson, another Tallahassee Democrat who voted against the change last month, were intrigued by the political implications of the veto. Crist, a former Republican now running for the U.S. Senate as an independent, endeared himself to state employees last year by vetoing a 2-percent salary reduction for those earning more than $45,000.

"He's going to get some state-employee support," said Lawson. The Senate minority leader met with Crist early this month and lobbied him to veto the interest cut.

The DROP program allows retirement-eligible employees to start collecting their pensions while continuing to work for up to five years. The monthly pension checks are banked at 6.5 percent interest, but the Legislature voted to cut that to 3 percent for those who enter DROP after July 1.

There's been a flood of DROP applications in the past two months, to beat the cut that now won't come.

Crist said the change was inserted in a joint committee report on the budget "with little or no opportunity for discussion or debate. Changes to employee retirement accounts should be vetted through the normal committee process to avoid unintended consequences that may occur when rushed through the process."

The Bill (HB 5607) passed the Senate 32-6 and the House 78-42. That's more than enough to override a veto in the Senate, but House leaders would have to switch two "Nay" votes to get the required two-thirds majority if an override vote is taken and all members showed up.