September 2020 CONGRESSMAN NEAL CHARTS PATH FORWARD on WEP REFORM Ore Than 3,400 Reform Bill H.R.4540 in Retirees Joined OVER 3,400 RETIREES ATTEND 2020
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11 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02108-3024 September 2020 CONGRESSMAN NEAL CHARTS PATH FORWARD ON WEP REFORM ore than 3,400 reform bill H.R.4540 in retirees joined OVER 3,400 RETIREES ATTEND 2020. As the Chairman Ma live Tele-Town TOWN HALL EVENT of the House Ways and Hall event on June 24th to Means Committee, Neal hear a first-hand update on is a senior member of the activities in Washington, DC Congressional leadership. from Congressman Richard During the extensive Neal (D-Springfield, MA). question and answer ses- Of course, the main focus sion, Neal explained what was news surrounding the he envisions to be the ongoing efforts to reform most likely path forward to the Social Security Windfall pass a reform bill in 2020. Elimination Provision (WEP). Later this year, Congress Neal kicked off the hour- is scheduled to pass sev- long meeting by reaffirming eral appropriation bills his personal commitment that fund the operations of to reforming the WEP, as Congressman Richard Neal answering member questions well as his desire to pass his during the June 24th Tele-Town Hall. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 u COLA SPOTLIGHT PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE hile the Association PAST Pages 14 – 16 FUTURE Page 3 is advancing on sev- An in-depth look at the history of A detailed review of the Association’s eral major fronts, W state COLA payments to local retire- Senior COLA Enhancement proposal. including those being highlighted ment systems beginning in 1981. in the headlines above and below We hope that our readers will on this page, there is one issue Pages 4 – 6 find these articles to be both inter- that has been at the core of our PRESENT esting and informative. activities over the decades – the Our annual report on the adoption of COLA or cost-of-living adjustment. the FY21 COLA by local retirement In this Voice, we’re examining boards, plus an update on the status various aspects of the COLA that of the State/Teachers’ FY21 COLA. touch upon its past, present and future. ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES PRIMARY ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS SEE PAGES 10-13 The Voice of the Retired Public Employee UPCOMING TELE-TOWN HALL MEETINGS SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to hold virtual meetings for the foreseeable future. AUGUST 10, 2020 AT 1:00 PM HOW TO PARTICIPATE Massachusetts Election Process AUTO-CONNECT: At the time of the event Special Guest: Secretary of State Bill Galvin Mass Retirees members will receive a call from 617-723-7283. Simply answer AUGUST 19, 2020 AT 1:00 PM the call and remain on the line to join Telehealth: What is it? Can it help you? the meeting. WILLIAM GALVIN DIALING IN: Mass Retirees members SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 AT 1:00 PM SECRETARY OF STATE can also directly dial into the tele-town ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING hall meetings, at the time of the event, by calling 833-491-0336. SEE RELATED ARTICLE - THOUSANDS PARTICIPATE – ON PAGE 18. As it now stands, some 73,000 MA only to have it die in the Republican- retirees have seen their Social controlled US Senate. It has been a WEP Reform CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 u Security benefits reduced by the longtime coming and we all want WEP. Nationally, the number is close to see a bill pass. However, far too the federal government and US mil- to 2 million retirees and growing,” much work has gone into develop- itary. Such bills, often referred to as explains Mass Retirees CEO Shawn ing H.R.4540 to have it suffer a defeat “must pass” legislation, offer a via- Duhamel. “I want to thank Chairman and end up taking a step backward,” ble method to pass WEP reform. Neal for taking the time to hear adds Legislative Chairman Tom As members know, WEP reform directly from our members, as well Bonarrigo. “WEP is not a partisan is not a partisan issue. The position as answer their questions. He and issue. The key right now is passing taken by US Congressmen and US his staff have put an extraordinary a compromise bill that puts money Senators is most often determined amount of time and effort into devel- back in the pockets of retirees ASAP. by which state they represent, with oping H.R.4540. I know that they Not only is Neal’s bill indexed to those from states with high numbers want it passed into law just as badly inflation, but it represents a starting of public retirees impacted by the as our members. point that can be improved upon WEP more likely to support reform “A common question we get is going forward. or repeal of the law. why a bill is taking so long to pass, “Every effort continues to be Filed in late September, H.R.4540 as well as why the WEP cannot be made to pass a bill in 2020. This has 142 cosponsors. The bill would repealed altogether. If this was an includes working closely with all 9 restore up to $150 a month in relief easy issue to fix, it would have hap- members of our Congressional dele- for those retirees subject to the pened decades ago. The fact is that gation, as well as the national Public WEP prior to January 1, 2022. This the WEP is not only complicated, Retirees Alliance. We need to keep would impact public retirees age 62 but also not everyone agrees that the pressure on Congress, particu- or older who are eligible for Social it should be changed. This is espe- larly across the other 49 states.” Security (have at least 40 quarters). cially true of the US Senate, where In addition to his comments The bill also creates a new Social 60 votes are typically needed in on WEP reform, Chairman Neal Security benefit formula for future order for a bill to pass.” also spent time speaking about retirees, which would more accu- Neal went on to explain that he the Congressional response to the rately calculate payments into the continues to work closely with his COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, Social Security system vs. payments Republican counterpart Kevin Brady Neal addressed the need to help made to an alternative system like (R-TX), who has filed a WEP Reform those directly impacted by the our Mass. public pension plans. bill of his own that is very similar to economic fallout caused by the “The high number of members that filed by Neal. pandemic. This includes unemploy- who participated in this meeting “The worse thing we could do ment benefits, federal stimulus, speaks to how important the issue right now would be to push a bill and assistance for state and local of WEP reform is to public retirees. through the House on a partisan vote, governments. 22 September 2020 ENHANCED COLA PROPOSAL ADVANCES New Approach Sought For Long-Term Retirees hroughout our retirees, we then went to work on increase the State and Teachers’ Association’s 52-year his- increasing the COLA base,” recalls COLA base to $13,000. Ttory, one issue has been a Mass Retirees founder and former constant focus – pension cost-of-liv- President Ralph White. “The largest NEW APPROACH BEGINS ing-adjustments, better TO TAKE SHAPE known as COLAs. A proposal being At the beginning of pushed by Mass the 2019-2020 legislative Retirees would create a session, Mass Retirees new benefit that would filed within its legisla- be paid to long-term tive package a proposal retirees in addition to to increase the current the traditional COLA. $13,000 COLA base SEN. BRENDAN CRIGHTON REP. JERALD PARISELLA SEN. BARRY FINEGOLD This “Enhanced COLA” (D-LYNN) (D-BEVERLY) (D-ANDOVER) for State and Teacher legislation is now mak- retirees. It was filed by ing its way through the legislative obstacle has always been funding Senator Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) process on Beacon Hill. and the situation has only gotten as S1487 and assigned to the Joint If passed, this proposal would worse over the years. Dating back Committee on Public Service. grant an additional benefit to retir- to WWII, our public pension system “When we approached Senator ees who have been retired at least was not designed with full COLA ben- Crighton to carry our COLA pro- 15 years and meet certain criteria. efits in mind. However, unlike most posal we did so knowing that we The goal of the Enhanced COLA is other systems around the country, had a new concept in mind. Having to help long-term retirees to better every COLA paid in Massachusetts worked on COLA policy for many keep pace with inflation. becomes a permanent part of a retir- years, starting during his tenure as Since 1968, decades of incre- ee’s base pension.” a Senate aide, Brendan was the per- mental improvements have taken Since 1971 COLAs in MA have fect fit to carry this important issue the COLA from a benefit paid only been applied to a base amount. for our members,” said Association to retirees with the smallest pension Originally, annual COLA payments President Frank Valeri. “At the start benefits, to a broad-based cumula- were approved by the Legislature of the session in 2019, our goal was tive benefit received by nearly every and funded by each retirement sys- to continue working to improve the public retiree on an annual basis. As tem. This changed in 1981 with the current COLA base, while also cre- a result, COLAs have been regular passage of Proposition 2 ½ and the ating a new benefit officially called and recurring in Massachusetts for law’s prohibition on unfunded local the Senior COLA Enhancement.