Florida teachers union sues Scott over pension contributions

Already faced with legal challenges over drug testing and election laws, Gov. Rick Scott became the target on Monday of yet another lawsuit -- this one led by the state teachers union, challenging a new mandate that public employees contribute 3 percent of their salary toward their pensions.

It won't be the last lawsuit the governor faces this year, warned teachers union officials, who also intend to challenge a new state law phasing out tenure for K-12 teachers. Other lawsuits targeting legislative action may follow as well, they said.

In the class-action lawsuit, filed in Leon County Circuit, the Florida Education Association argues that the pension legislation is both unlawful and unconstitutional. The suit also targets a phasing out of cost-of-living increases in retirement benefits.

Florida's 170,000 public school teachers constitute one of the largest populations covered by the state's retirement program. Law enforcement officers and firefighters are also among the 655,000 active and 304,000 retired local and state government workers who belong to the program, according to the lawsuit.

The mandated pension contributions were part of the Legislature's strategy this year for paring down the budget to stave off a $4 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year without raising taxes or fees. Florida's retirement system is among the last in the nation that does not require its members to contribute toward their pensions.

The lawsuit argues that Florida law defines the Florida Retirement System as one in which employees do not have to contribute part of their salaries.

Monday, FEA officials called the mandatory new contributions an "income tax" levied only on government personnel, and a violation of their contractual rights to retirement benefits established by a 1974 law and protected by the state Constitution.

The state, FEA president Andy Ford said, has the right to require future workers to contribute to their retirement, but not those already in government jobs. "We believe that a promise is a promise, and the state of Florida should abide by the promises it makes."

The union also argues that the mandatory contribution amounts to an unconstitutional "taking of private property without full compensation" and a violation of "Plaintiff's right to collectively bargain," as guaranteed by the state Constitution.

Scott, a conservative former healthcare executive who has vowed to run government more like a private company, called the pension changes "common sense." He had urged lawmakers to require 5 percent contributions.

"Asking state employees to pay a small percentage into their pensions is common sense," the governor said via a spokesman.

"Floridians who don't work in government are required to pay into their own retirement," Scott said. "This is about fairness for those who don't have government jobs. Plus, we are ensuring a pension will be there for state employees when they retire. I'm confident this law is good for the people of Florida and will stand up in court."

Other defendants named in the suit are state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Attorney General Pam Bondi who, along with Scott, oversee the retirement system as members of the State Board of Administration.

Asked about the suit, spokespeople for Bondi and Atwater said only that they were reviewing the case.

The pension changes take effect on July 1.

The FEA, which predicts the case will wind up at the state Supreme Court, has asked Circuit Court Judge Jackie Fulford to make the state "sequester" the employees' contributions to the pension system in a separate, interest-bearing account until the matter is decided, so that employees may be fully compensated -- with interest -- if they prevail in court.

Three of the 11 plaintiffs in the case are from Hillsborough County:

•Megan Allen an exceptional education teacher at Cleveland Elementary School;

•Juan Baso, an equipment operator with the county Solid Waste Department, and

•Brian England, coordinator of continuing education at Hillsborough County Community College

England, 55, joined the suit because he was "ticked off," he said, arguing that state politicians unfairly balanced the budget on the backs of state workers. Those lawmakers ought to sacrifice more of their own state salary and benefits, England said, before they turn to the public employees who vote for them.

"My budget was already strapped," he said. "I have a 20-year-old son who lives with me and is going to school. Then you talk about a car, car insurance for two cars, then you've got the mortgage, utilities and groceries on top of it. The [3 percent cut] makes it an impossible situation."

England is a member of the Florida Service Employees International Union, which joined the lawsuit on Monday afternoon. The Police Benevolent Association filed a motion on Monday for a state correctional office and a sheriff's deputy in Orange County to join the suit as well.

In Hillsborough County, sheriff's employees are receiving a 3.25 percent salary increase to offset the mandatory pension contributions. Sheriff David Gee told the Tampa Tribune last week that his employees haven't received raises in years, and that the 3 percent cut would have affected both morale and quality of life.

Lynne Webb, president of the United School Employees of Pasco, said tax breaks that lawmakers doled out over the years, not the pension fund, caused the state's financial problems.

The cost-of-living reduction also has been a significant concern, she said; even a small drop in the cost-of-living benefits for retirees add up when compounded over the years.

"We accepted lower salaries in exchange for these retirement benefits," said Webb, whose union supports the suit.

Republican Sen. Don Gaetz of Niceville, a former school superintendent and future Senate President, scoffed at the lawsuit, stressing that public employees in most other states contribute to their retirement -- including in those states ruled by the Democratic Party, which has the backing of the teachers union.

Scott is already facing two lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, one challenging controversial election reforms he signed into law, and another challenging his executive order to randomly drug test all state employees. The ACLU is expected to file a third challenge to a new law subjecting welfare applicants to mandatory drug screening, once that law takes effect on July 1.

The governor also heads on June 29 to the state Supreme Court to face a blind woman on food stamps who is challenging one of Scott executive orders that suspended rulemaking by all agencies subject to his authority.

In all cases, the Scott has insisted that he stands on solid legal ground and expects to prevail in court.