Heading to the Governor’s desk is a long-debated bill that, if signed, will bring Florida the most transparent municipal pension system in the nation.
SB 534, sponsored by Senator Jeff Brandes, prohibits the state from bailing out local pensions that declare bankruptcy, creates new reporting standards for defined-benefit plans as adopted by the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB), standardizes some of the assumptions that pensions use in their actuarial assessments, and requires new disclosures of plan performance to the public.
โWith the passage of this bill Florida will now have the most transparent municipal pension plans in the country,โ said Senator Brandes. โI believe that this legislation will serve as a model that other states will look to as they seek to address the growing problem of unfunded liabilities in municipal pension plans.โ
House companion bill sponsor Rep. Matt Caldwell spoke to the importance of the bill in terms of its disclosure requirements, saying, โNot only does this bill protect the Florida taxpayer from future bailouts of failed plans, this will also give our public servants accurate information on the shortcomings in their own pension plans.ย They will now be well equipped to make important decisions on their future.โ
The Senate bill passed narrowly by a vote of 22-18; and the House byย 71-45.
