Saturday, May 8, 2010

We Won! Retirees Spared in Budget

From AFSCME Council 79:

On Monday, April 19, the hundreds of calls we made to the capitol paid off when the House leadership announced they were backing down from their plan to eliminate the Retiree Health Insurance Subsidy in HB 5701.  In battling this bad bill that would have taken up to $150 per month from Florida Retirement System beneficiaries, AFSCME partnered with the Florida Alliance of Retired Americans and set up a toll free number so workers and retirees could call Senate President Jeff Atwater.

The announcement was made by Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Oveido, who just weeks earlier had provided a crucial vote to the GOP leadership to resurrect the bill after Democrats and 14 Republicans had joined together to defeat HB 5701.  Republicans voting against HB 5701 the second time were Reps. Janet Adkins, Kevin Ambler, Tom Anderson, Marti Coley, Brad Drake, Greg Evers, Ed Hooper, JC Planas, Julio Robaina, Baxter Troutman, and Juan Zapata.  Four Republicans who changed their votes from no to yes on HB 5701 were Reps. Ed Homan, Paige Kreegel, Charles McBurney and Trudi Williams.

No comments: