Pension News

There's a new legislative session and with it new bills affecting our pension.

There's Bill HF4342 which if enacted will add a seat on the PERA Board for a CO. This is coming from MNCORA.

Bill HF4081 which if enacted will increase the high 5 multiplier for the PERA Correctional Pension from 1.9 to 2.2%.

And of course with a new session comes a new attempt by LELS to raid our pension and add 911 telecommunicators. If enacted the added cost could lower our funding ratio reducing the current Retiree cost of living adjustment (COLA) from the current 2.5% to 1.5%!

LELS Executive Director Jim Mortenson has been making the rounds trying to get other unions to support this. I have no idea why LELS would work to weaken the pension of Corrections Officers.

LELS Jim Mortenson

We encourage everyone who is in the PERA Correctional Plan to join the Minnesota Correctional Officer Retirement Association (MNCORA). It is dues free!

email mncora@protonmail.com

Finally a statewide Retirement Association for Corrections

 There's now the Minnesota Correctional Officer Retirement association for PERA Correctional Plan members.

It's about time! With all of the scheming to weaken our pension this is overdue.

I joined, I encourage all of you to join. It's dues free.

Here's the website: MNCORA.ORG

To join email MNCORA@protonmail.com

911 Telecommunicators pension workgroup day one

 Introductions were made among the members and myself as advisor.

Chad Burkitt laid out expectations, of concern is that there is an expectation to consider adding Telecommunicators to the Correction Plan because Senator Bingham had that in the original Bill. It doesn’t have to be recommended but it’s expected to be discussed.

He said that’s why there’s Corrections people on the committee.

The vote was taken among the Committee (I am just an advisor) and they elected Dar Pankoine as Chair. She’s from Washington County and with APCO a Dispatch organization. She immediately took over as chair.

Pera Executive Director Doug Anderson made PERA's Presentation.

Erin Leonard Executive Director of MSRS (State Retirement) made their presentation.

I pointed out a couple of things. The PERA General fund of which the Dispatchers are currently in has $22.63 Billion, yes Billion in Assets, the PERA Correctional Plan has only $787.32 Million. Wouldn’t their current plan be better able to absorb an increase in their Pension?

Couldn’t moving the 911 Dispatchers into our Pension cause our Plan to go below 80% funding (we are at 100% according to Doug) and reduce our COLA (Cost of living adjustment) from max of 2.5% to 1 to 1.5% permanently?

This of course would be determined by the legislature if it gets that far.

 At the end I pointed out the PERA Correctional Plan requires 95% inmate contact and the State Correctional MSRS Plan 75%. I asked Dar (the chair) If any dispatchers at Washington County had 95% inmate contact. She said no they’re separated. I then asked how many Washington County Dispatchers had been assaulted. She said that wasn’t a fair question. I reiterated that our plan is based on 95% inmate contact and the physical dangers inherent with that. She said we could discuss that later as well as the additional stress the dispatchers have.

911 Telecommunicators Working Group Update

If you've been following along you know there's a 911 Telecommunicators Working group going on at the State Level.

I applied to be the member representing the PERA Correctional plan, but another person was chosen by PERA.

I then contacted the Executive Director of the LPCR (Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement) in the hopes of being added by them. They did not add me to the Workgroup but they agreed to put me on as an advisor. I can make our concerns known as a  PERA Correctional Plan Member and Retiree and be a resource for the Committee.

The First meeting is Friday July 30, I will attend and update all of you.

Many of you are already members of our E-Tree open to PERA Correctional Plan members and Retirees and can read more in depth what's happening there.

If you are not email pera.watchdog@gmail.com  Type ADD ME in the subject line. Include who you are and where you work or retired from. 

Watch this site for a big announcement either this Friday or Monday.

PERA Board Meeting and Bill SF2198 update

 I attended the April 8th PERA Board meeting via zoom. 

The subject of the Legislature adding 911 Dispatchers to our Correctional Pension was addressed, Senate Bill SF2198.

Here's the position adopted by the PERA Board.

Essentially, if the Legislators decide to add a group to our pension PERA is recommending they do one of two things.

One, an added group would start out as new to our pension and at contributions sufficient to fully fund the higher benefit.

Or

Two, the City or County of that group would have to pay an amount into our pension sufficient to fully fund that individual and not harm our actuarial value. So if a 55 year old dispatcher who worked for a county for 30 years was put into our pension, that county would have to add 30 years of contributions into our Correctional Plan. This would be extremely expensive for cities and counties budgets.

I had a very productive phone conversation with PERA Executive Director Doug Anderson today. We both want to keep our pension healthy as it is the best funded of all the PERA pensions. 

PERA has no say as to who is in the Pension, the Legislature does, so keep on your State Senators and Representatives, but PERA very much has a say in the how much this change would cost our plan.

So far no companion House File has been added to this Bill. It can't happen without that. I hope it stays that way.

Our Pension was founded on inmate contact and the high risk associated with that. We need to guard this!

PERA Correctional Pension alert, SF 2198

 There's a bill in the Minnesota Senate that poses a danger to the PERA Correctional Pension.

Our pension is the healthiest and best funded of all of the PERA Pensions. This was by design. When formed in 1999 it was for Correctional/Detention Officers who had 95% inmate contact. It recognized the danger and hazards of the job. Just this week a CO was killed in Iowa and another held hostage in Oklahoma. Numerous Detention Deputies and CO's have contracted Covid 19 due to close proximity to inmates and brought it home to their families. Unfortunately this goes with the territory and for that reason the PERA Correctional Plan provides a 55 out. I left 5 years ago at 57 because as I used to say, "I don't want to be 60 years old and wrestling with a 20 year old in the sallyport."

Enter SF 2198. It seeks to add 911 Telecommunicators to our pension. 

It reads, "911 telecommunicators transfer from the general employees retirement plan to the local government correctional plan; transferring eligible service credit."

There is more to this than it appears. First off, they don't have inmate contact and the same dangers CO's have. Secondly, when our plan formed in 1999 we were not allowed to transfer our service credit from the PERA General Pension to the new Correctional one. Any funds we left in the General Plan we had to withdraw losing the employer portion, or couldn't touch until 65. The same goes for Licensed Deputies and LEO's who went from being a CO to Licensed. Their money doesn't follow them into the Police and Fire Pension.

The affect on our Correctional Pension will be massive. All of the 911 Dispatchers 55 or older can begin drawing on a pension they never paid into almost immediately. I hear as many as 10% of the 911 Dispatchers would be eligible! A pension predicated on the dangers of inmate contact, of which they have none. The result could lead to higher employee contributions and lower COLA's on those who paid in most of their careers.

This is not a slam on our hard working 911 Telecommunicators, but an attempt to avoid destroying our healthy pension.

Contact your State Senators and Representatives!

Plans to use our Pension to pay off others Student Loans!

Pension Raiders

How forgiving Student Loans can affect your pension

I’m watching many current presidential candidates and politicians discussing forgiving student loans.

One of the main ways suggested to accomplish this is by “having Wall Street” pay for it.

In reality it’s having our Pension Plans pay for it!

Bernie Sanders plan lays it out like this, “We can guarantee higher education as a right for all and cancel all student debt for an estimated $2.2 trillion. To pay for this, we will impose a tax of a fraction of a percent on Wall Street speculators who nearly destroyed the economy a decade ago. This Wall Street speculation tax will raise $2.4 trillion over the next ten years.  It works by placing a 0.5 percent tax on stock trades – 50 cents on every $100 of stock –  a 0.1 percent fee on bond trades, and a 0.005 percent fee on derivative trades. 

The problem is Wall Street is US!

Pensions, like PERA and 401k’s invest our money in Stocks on Wall Street. How well those investments perform determines the health of our Pension Funds and our COLA’s (Cost of Living Adjustment).

I’ll use the PERA Correctional Plan as an example. Our plan is based on an actuarial return on investment of 7.5% annually. 

The PERA Correctional plan COLA is dependent on funding status, a large part of that is investments!

“Beginning in 2019, the COLA will be equal to 100 percent of the increase announced by SSA, with a minimum increase of at least 1 percent and a maximum of 2.5. If the Plan’s funding status declines to 85 percent or below for two consecutive years or 80 percent for one year, the cap will be lowered from 2.5 percent to 1.5.” -PERA website 

In other words, if Wall Street is taxed to pay off student loans, Retirees and 401k’s will be the ones paying those loans.

The result would be lower monthly retirement payments and lower cost of living adjustments.

You never thought you’d work all of your life just to have your retirement investments taken to pay off someone else’s student loans did you?

Some politicians think that’s a great idea. 

According to Bernie Sanders, taxing Wall Street will raise $2.4 Trillion over 10 years. That's a $2.4 Trillion hit on our investments! 

The concept of taking our investments to pay off someone else's student loan is wrong.

Watch your wallet.

Dave Metusalem , Conflict of Interest on PERA Board

Dave Metuslam

I just read the June 29, Newsletter for members of PERA today. As a Corrections Retiree Reporter I feel duty bound to point out a conflict of interest.

This caught My eye,  from Thomas Stanley,President of the PERA Board of Trustees: " I also want to welcome David Metusalem back to the board as the Retired, Disabled, and Survivor representative. Dave has prior experience on the PERA board as an elected Police and Fire representative and also served as vice president."

Let me state up front, this appointment is rife with conflict of interest. Dave rose through the ranks at the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office. He eventually was the Under Sheriff at Ramsey County, July of 1995 to March 2017. During that time he sat on the PERA Board representing Police and Fire.

He had to step down from the PERA board when he retired as a Peace Officer and became the Executive Director of the MPPOA, May 2017 until December 2018 when he left the MPPOA. All is well and good up until then.

Well now he is the appointed Chief Deputy of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office and the PERA Board Retired, Disabled and Survivor representative and therein lies the conflict.

As Chief Deputy he has the power to hire and fire, but more importantly, as Chief Deputy he has say over which Detention Deputies and Deputies can qualify for Disability under PERA. So the conflict is, will he be looking out for the interest of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office or the PERA member seeking a PERA disability pension?

This is perfectly legal. He is a retiree, and as an appointed Chief Deputy he can legally hold this position. But this loop hole in the law allows a conflict! Imagine you're an injured Ramsey County Detention Deputy or Licensed Deputy and your boss has a vote on the PERA Board whether or not you qualify for a Disability Pension?

The election to fill the Retired, Disabled, and Survivor representative won't open up for more then a year. But at that time I will put my name in to represent us on the PERA Board as the Retired, Disabled, and Survivor representative.

I look forward to your support and will continue to look out for our Pension.

Court forces Teamsters Local 320 to return ill gotten dues and Pension news.

Teamsters officials forced to return every dollar, plus interest, of fees seized by the union from the court workers

Minneapolis, MN (September 10, 2018) – A federal First Amendment lawsuit brought by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys for two Minnesota court employees against a Teamsters local union has ended with the workers winning a settlement that will return to the workers all forced union dues seized by union officials. The refund is a result of the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision, which held that the First Amendment prohibits mandatory union fees for public sector workers.

Carrie Keller and Elizabeth Zeien, employees of the State of Minnesota Court System, filed the lawsuit after Teamsters Local 320 union officials and Minnesota state officials forced them into union ranks without a vote and against their desire.

FULL STORY

Plus Pension News

Craig Johnson, Teamsters Local 320 BA tries to take credit for protecting our Pension last year! Everyone who's been following this blog knows Brian Aldes, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 320 "signed off" on CUTS to the PERA Correctional Plan. Only after this author and MNPEA went to bat was our 2.5% COLA maintained. Had Johnson and Aldes had their way it would have been only 1.4% this year.

The following letter from Craig Johnson of Teamsters Local 320 was shared with me by our Ramsey County CO readers of this blog. Note the last sentence; "...we worked on the Omnibus Pension Bill to secure PERA remains strong...."

They had agreed to cap our pension at 1.5%! They and AFSCME called it shared sacrifice. Sorry Craig, we don't don't need that kind of "work" on our pension.