Articles about Legislation that may be useful to Massachusetts retirees.
Local Retirement Systems Empowered to Increase COLA Up To 5%
APRIL 27, 2022: Today, the Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously approved a 5% increase in the FY23 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for State and Teacher Retirees. The measure also contains authorization for the state’s 102 local retirement systems to increase local COLAs from 3-5% by a majority vote of the retirement board.
APRIL 22, 2022: After nearly a year of preparation by our Association, debate is about to begin in the House of Representatives on proposals that would make improvements to the annual COLA benefit paid to public retirees. Mass Retirees has sponsored two amendments to the House FY23 budget - #1136 filed by Representative Ken Gordon and #1411 filed by Representative Mark Cusack.
Before I get into the specifics of the two amendments, let me first remind you of two upcoming Mass Retirees meetings.
Amendments Filed to Improve COLA Benefits
APRIL 19, 2022: On Wednesday the House released their version of the Fiscal Year 2023 state budget. This marks the next stage of the budget process, which began in January when Governor Baker filed his proposal. The $49.6 billion dollar budget included two items of significance to retirees. First, as in the Governor’s proposal, the House fully funded the Group Insurance Commission, making sure health insurance will once again remain stable.
Weekly Update 4/8/2022: It is always a great day when we can share good news with our members. Since I have two pieces of very positive news to share, I suppose it makes today exceptionally good!
Supports Moves by Treasurer Goldberg & Legislature to Act
March 2, 2022: In the wake of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Mass Retirees Association has joined those calling for full divestment of public pension funds from Russian companies or investments tied to Russia.
DECEMBER 10, 2021: As promised, for this week’s video I am joined by Bill Rehrey and Nancy McGovern for a sneak preview of our January 2022 edition of The Voice. Before I dive into the details of what you will find in the upcoming newsletter, I’d like to thank the thousands of members who have promptly renewed your Mass Retirees membership for 2022. November began our membership renewal process for next year, with notices mailed to the 20,000+ members who renew at the end of the year. Members receive a renewal notice base
By Matt Stout, Globe Staff Massachusetts legislators in recent weeks have loosened 40-year-old limits on how many hours government retirees can work for a public agency each year while still collecting their taxpayer-funded pension, realizing a change long sought by former employees but derided by critics as too generous.
10/15/2021 Weekly Update, By Shawn Duhamel If you have read our September newsletter or watched/read any of my recent weekly updates, then you know that a major focus of our ongoing work is to make improvements to the annual COLA or cost-of-living adjustment. Wednesday’s news that the CPI is now 5.9% only bolsters our argument that more needs to be done in this area.
October 1, 2021 Weekly Update: By Chief Executive Officer Shawn Duhamel Before my brief hiatus in August, I reported to you that we anticipated a very busy fall. I’m happy to say that not only were we correct, but that things have been even busier than we would have thought.
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Since 1968 the Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association has been the leading voice for Massachusetts public retirees and their families. Join with our 52,000 members as we continue the fight.
