The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board
Every now and then there arises an idea to change the Florida Retirement System (FRS). The proposals are typically billed as “reforms” but are often anything but. This year’s shortsighted effort is no exception.
In the closing days of the legislative session, the Florida Senate is pushing a bill that would force new government hires into defined contribution plans like 401(k) programs. The Florida House, which has yet to take up the reckless measure, should put a stop to it.
Supporters of Senate Bill 84 insist the change is needed to save the FRS from future financial collapse. Retirees, they argue, are living longer and the pension’s $36 billion in unfunded actuarial liability has become unmanageable. The solution, they believe, is to move away from pensions to alternative investments that are more costly and risky for employees.
The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board
Jason McCarty carried a Florida medical marijuana card, as legally entitled to smoke cannabis to calm his anxiety and insomnia as anyone who takes a pill out of a bottle.
At 50, he had a $121,000-a-year job in information technology and a spotless record. But on Feb. 4, two fellow employees from the risk-management staff smelled the whiff of weed in his parked car and immediately reported him.
No more than a day later, he was banished from the premises by his employer: the City of West Palm Beach.
McCarty lost his job over a frustrating truth. Although Florida has made marijuana partially legal, the federal government still considers it a banned substance. And under employment policies of the City of West Palm Beach, federal law comes first. The use of medical marijuana, even with a prescription, is prohibited.
The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board
It is most unfortunate that the Florida House has passed the “anti-riot” bill proof that raising that old reliable battle cry, “law-and-order,” is more important to Florida’s leaders than seriously grappling with Floridians’ financial and employment troubles or still-present dangers from the virus that has so far cost more than 33,000 Florida lives.
It’s all the more unfortunate that the Republican-dominated House approved HB 1 (a title of honor that itself reveals perverse priorities) by a huge majority: 76-39 along party lines.
The bill is Gov. Ron DeSantis’ answer to the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the nation last summer 93% of which were entirely peaceful, according to a study last fall.
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