Senator Aaron Bean (R-Fernandina Beach) and Representative Jason Fischer (R-Jacksonville) have filed legislation to appropriate $250,000 to Jacksonville School for Autism (JSA). This appropriation will allow JSA to expand their Strategies and Techniques for Effective Practice (STEP) Program. The STEP Program provides vocational students and young adults with the skills necessary to be independent and successful in both their communities and places of employment.
“Jacksonville School for Autism has impacted numerous lives since its founding and has provided its students with the support they need to become independent, productive members of society,” said Senator Bean. “This appropriation will allow Jacksonville School for Autism to expand and help more students realize that they are truly capable of anything.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms 1 in 42 boys have an autism diagnosis. JSA is dedicated to helping children with autism and their families by tapping into all available resources to provide “outside of the desk” thinking. With a focus on whole child development and individualized programs that encourage both family and community involvement, JSA is able to nurture each child to reach his or her full potential.
“Autism touches the lives of many Floridians, and it is our responsibility as lawmakers to ensure they have the support they need to reach their full potential,” said Representative Fischer. “This funding request will provide increased vocational training for JSA students, helping them learn essential skills that will prepare them for employment.”
For more information about Jacksonville School for Autism, please visit jsakids.org.
For more information about HB 3967, click here.
Representative Jason Fischer
Sen. Brandes and Rep. Fischer file pension reform legislation
Bill will require pension plans to increase contributions and reduce unfunded liabilities
Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) and Representative Jason Fischer (R-Jacksonville) jointly filed legislation today to change the methodology used by pension plans in determining appropriate levels of annual contributions. If adopted, many pension plans will be required to increase their annual monetary contributions. The proposed changes will increase the financial strength and solvency of the plans by reducing unfunded liabilities.
“Many pension plans in Florida are dangerously underfunded, bringing into question whether they will be available to our police, firefighters, first responders, and public employees who rely on them for retirement,” stated Senator Brandes. “This legislation will prevent pension plans from playing games with their funding formulas, and bring about fiscally prudent funding practices in these important programs.”
“We’ve made a promise to our teachers, first responders, and hardworking public servants that in exchange for their sacrifice we would help support them in retirement,” stated Representative Fischer. “For far too long faulty assumptions and pie in the sky numbers have put that promise at risk. This bill will put us on a path to fiscally responsibility by pegging the state retirement calculations to the real world.”
The legislation, Senate Bill 632 and House Bill 603, change the way pension plans determine their assumed return rates for investments made by plans. The legislation would implement recommendations from a 2014 report from the Society of Actuaries, urging the use of more reasonable rate-of-return assumptions by plans to avoid unfunded liabilities that accumulate over time. This legislation follows reforms by Senator Brandes in 2013 and 2015 that increased transparency in pension funding levels, and required more updated actuarial assumptions be used when projecting future plan costs due to plan participant mortality. Senator Brandes and Representative Fischer have also collaborated this year on pension reform legislation designed to prevent underfunded local plans from entering the Florida Retirement System.
For more information on SB 632 and HB 603 please visit http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2017/0632.
