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State Workers Must Keep Paying 3 Percent for Pension

Florida Supreme Court
Flickr
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Legislature's requirement that  state employees contribute 3 percent of their pay toward the state pension system, overturning a lower-court decision last year that had held it was unconstitutional.

See the decision and a Tampa Bay Timesblog account.

The ruling had been eagerly awaited by state officials, who feared that if they had to give the money back it would knock a $2 billion hole in the budget.  State employees, who got no raise to cover the money they lost from their paychecks, had hoped to get it back.

Within minutes of the ruling, e-mails of joy emerged from House Speaker Will Weatherford, Senate President Don Gaetz, and Gov. Rick Scott.

Carol Gentry, founder and special correspondent of Health News Florida, has four decades of experience covering health finance and policy, with an emphasis on consumer education and protection.