Judge to Florida Legislators: Mandatory Pension “Contribution” is Unconstitutional
by Jon Melegrito | March 08, 2012
A Leon County court judge recently ruled that Florida’s law slashing state and local government worker salaries by 3 percent was unconstitutional, dealing a serious blow to the anti-worker agenda of Gov. Rick Scott and state legislators.
Calling the state’s decision an unconstitutional breach of contract, the judge also ordered lawmakers to return the money with interest and discontinue the practice immediately.
Last year, legislators decided to balance the budget on the backs of teachers, law-enforcement officers and other public service workers by calling the paycuts “contributions” to their retirement benefits. The Florida Education Association sued, arguing that Florida law has provided for nearly four decades, and that pension rights are contractual rights that may not be ignored or abridged.
“This court cannot set aside its constitutional obligations because a budget crisis exists in the State of Florida,” Judge Jackie Fulford wrote in her ruling, adding that the Legislature’s action was “an unconstitutional impairment of plaintiff's contract with the State of Florida, an unconstitutional taking of private property without full compensation, and an abridgement of the rights of public employees to collectively bargain over conditions of employment. To find otherwise would mean that a contract with our state government has no meaning, and that the citizens of our state can place no trust in the work of our Legislature.”
Council 79 Pres. Jeanette Wynn, also an International vice president, applauded Judge Fulford’s decision to uphold the law and stand against the state legislature’s unfair attack on workers’ rights. “Rick Scott and his supporters at the Florida legislature need to focus on job creation, instead of attempting to close the gaping budget hole on the backs of hard working middle class families. Thanks to today’s court decision, these workers can continue to make ends meet and retire with dignity.”
