Florida House moves closer to eliminating public employee pensions

The Florida House is moving quickly on a plan that would close the state's public employee pension system and place new workers into a 401(k) retirement plan for state and county employees. The House Government Operations Subcommittee passed a large overhaul of the Florida Retirement System on February 7 that would close Florida's 623,000 member pension system to new employees as of 2014 and direct them to a 401(k) style plan. the bill would prevent new employees from collecting disability benefits, according to an article by Kathleen Haughney in the February 8 Sun Sentinel.