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One House Democrat says the pension plan goes too far because it collects more money than needed and gives the excess back to taxpayers in the form of property tax cuts. Representative Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda held a news conference today to call on budget negotiators to nix plans to have state employees contributing to their retirement plans. She was joined by firefighters, state workers and economists. Karen Woodall, the director of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, says the legislature’s pension plan will hurt millions of Floridians.

“We are asking teachers, firefighters, police, state employees, we are asking the medically needy, we are asking children through the tax cuts in education over and over again to share the pain,” said Woodall.

Rehwinkel Vasilinda and the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy are asking state lawmakers to close corporate tax loopholes to fill the gap. They say if just some of the loopholes were closed, money could be raised to keep state workers from contributing to their pensions.