A controversial proposal to end school board members’ pay in Florida returns to the Constitution Revision Commission’s Education Committee on Friday, so far with no amendments proposed. The recommendation, which comes from Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds, appeared to have died in the committee’s Nov,. 27 meeting. A majority of the panel voted…
In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, there were no legislative meetings today. Tomorrow, several bills of interest will be considered, including bills relating to local tax referenda, juvenile justice, out-of-school suspension, computer coding, and retirement. In addition, the House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness will be considering their final report and recommendations. Please…
The Legislature will hold a sixth, and final, round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Please click on the link below for a preview of the bills and issues will be under consideration. Also, last week the Constitution Revision Commission Committees considered several education related proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution. Please click on the…
The Legislature will return to work tomorrow — Monday — for the last day of the extended 2017 Legislative Session. The only items that are scheduled to be considered are a bill outlining the state tax cut package (HB 7109) and the Conference Reports on the budget, budget implementing bill, and the related conforming bills. …
Budget negotiators met twice today to close out the final differences in the budget. Of particular interest to school boards, a corrected distribution list for state Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) funding was released. This provides $50 million each to Public Schools and Charter Schools for maintenance, repair, and renovations and more than $57 million…
In a small, unassuming Capitol conference room last week, state pension officials made multi-billion-dollar tweaks to the Florida Retirement System’s 1.1 million-member pension plan. The two-day conference concluded with revisions to key assumptions used to determine the value of the state pension fund. The result: another $2.6 billion in public debt. Read full article
State analysts agreed Thursday to lower the expected rate of return on Florida’s $144 billion pension fund, while warning that it may be the first in a series of annual downward adjustments. The shift from a 7.65 percent rate of return to 7.6 percent may seem slight, but it has implications for the $82 billion…
Despite a topsy-turvy year in the world financial markets, Florida’s $142 billion pension fund managed to show a gain for the seventh straight year. Ash Williams, executive director of the State Board of Administration, which manages the fund, told Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet on Tuesday that the fund ended the state fiscal year…
Florida House Republicans again have set their sights on pension reform for government employees. A proposal automatically enrolling new hires in a defined-contribution plan Tuesday cleared its final House committee on a mostly party-line vote. The proposal by Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres, would create survivor benefits for first responders enrolled in the so-called investment/defined…