The Voice of the Retired Public Employee
Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts
Founded in 1968, now in its 57th year of serving retired Massachusetts public employees of the 104 public retirement systems within the Commonwealth, the Mass Retirees Association is widely recognized as one of the strongest independent advocacy groups on Beacon Hill. From public pensions and health insurance, to federal issues such as the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision, Government Pension Offset and Medicare the Association leads the fight exclusively for all Massachusetts retired public employees. We are The Voice of the Retired Public Employee.
Breaking News
September 9, 2025
Mass Retirees Endorses Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for Reelection
Dating back to our Association’s founding in 1968, we have maintained a close working relationship with the mayor of Boston. As the Commonwealth’s capitol city and the 3rd largest public pension fund, Boston often sets the tone when ...Read More
September 8, 2025
Valeri Announces Reelection for the State Retirement Board
Mass Retirees President Frank Valeri has announced he will be a candidate for reelection to the State Retirement Board. Since 2013 Valeri has served as Association president, replacing its long time and founding father Ralph White. During his tenure as ...Read More
September 3, 2025
Neilon Appointed Executive Vice President: Retired as MTRS Asst. Exec. Director & CFO
With the passing of Executive VP Paul Shanley, Association President Frank Valeri fully recognized the importance of filling his position now before the September 2026 elections, as the by-laws empower him to do. As Valeri sees it, “This is ...Read More
June 19, 2025
Healthcare Affordability Concerns Deepen
Steps Must Be Taken to Prevent Crisis Scenario For the better part of two years, Mass Retirees has sounded the alarm regarding what we believe to be a growing healthcare affordability crisis. As healthcare costs continue to sharply increase, our ...Read More
June 19, 2025
Cola Commission: Reviews and Deliberates on Benefit Improvements
As Mass Retirees members know, the Special COLA Commission is now reviewing steps that can be taken to improve COLA benefits. Created at the behest of our Association within the outside sections of the FY25 Budget, the Commission’s mandate ...Read More
Learn about the legacy of Mass Retirees
Latest News From Mass Retirees
Social Security Fairness Act: 3.1 Million Retirees Received $14 Billion in Payments
September 9, 2025Less than seven months after being signed into law by President Joe Biden, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that it has completed implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act. According to the SSA, some 3.1 million retirees ...Read More
Mass Retirees Legislative Update: Association Bills Receiving Public Hearings
September 9, 2025Since the July edition of The Voice, the public hearing process has picked up pace. According Nancy McGovern, Director of Healthcare & Retirement Advocacy, “To date, 12 of the bills filed by the Association for the 2025–2026 legislative session ...Read More
COLA Commission Work Continues: Focus on Creating Enhanced Benefit
September 9, 2025While local retirement systems continue to focus on incrementally increasing their respective COLA base, the work of the state’s Special COLA Commission continues. As we reported in the July edition of The Voice, the 9-member Commission is heavily ...Read More
Locals Continuing to Increase Their COLA Base: Nineteen Systems Increase Fy26 Base
September 9, 2025Over the past 5 fiscal years (FY22- FY26) Mass Retirees is pleased to report that local retirement systems have continued to increase their COLA Base. This is very welcome news. For FY26 that began this past July 1, all 102 ...Read More
Investment Returns & Funded Ratios for 104 Retirement Systems
September 9, 2025Key Factors Impacting a COLA Base Increase Earlier in this Voice (page 1) we reported on the 2024 Investment Report by PERAC (Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission). The Table below provides details from the Report, as well as other key ...Read More