Articles about Retirement Boards that may be useful to Massachusetts retirees.
Chapter 176 Marks Sweeping Change
NOVEMBER 21, 2011: As expected, late last Friday, November 18, Governor Deval Patrick signed Pension Reform III into law as Chapter 176, Acts of 2011.
The measure, which had been enacted in the House and Senate three days earlier, creates a new retirement plan for new employees of our 105 retirement systems, hired on or after next April 2nd.
Boston Globe
BOSTON—The Massachusetts Legislature has approved an overhaul of the state's pension system that would raise the minimum retirement age for future state employees to 60.
The compromise bill was accepted Tuesday by the Senate on a 27-10 vote and later on a 149-0 vote in the House.
Phase III Targets New Hires
NOVEMBER 2011 VOICE: Citing the need to reign in pension costs in order to increase the Commonwealth’s bond rating, the Senate has passed a sweeping pension reform measure that serves as the third major overhaul of the state’s defined benefit pension law.
Legislation Contains Governance Reforms
NOVEMBER 7, 2011: Pension reform legislation, now before a House & Senate Conference Committee, not only contains significant changes to retirement benefits for future employees, but also to the administration and governance of the Commonwealth’s 105 retirement systems.
Scibak Will Be Guest Speaker
OCTOBER 7, 2011: The Mass. Association of Contributory Retirement Systems (MACRS) will hold its fall conference this
October 16-19 at the Sheraton Springfield Hotel.
Officials and staff of our state's 105 retirement boards representing all of the Commonwealth's retirement systems will tackle an agenda that is headed by "Pension Reform" the Governor's top priority bill (S2018) which is expected to be enacted by the Legislature within the next month.
SEPTEMBER 2011 VOICE: The Plymouth Board of Selectmen has appointed Gerald (Jerry) Coughlin to be their designee on the Plymouth Retirement Board.
Coughlin, treasurer of our Association, had a distinguished career with the Mass. Turnpike Authority where he served as administrator of the Turnpike Retirement Board for many years. After retiring in 1996, he was elected to the Board where he served with fellow elected Board member, the late Frank “Bingo†Hoey.
The last step in the restructure of the Essex Regional Retirement System was taken on January 6th when the five members of the new Essex Regional Retirement Board named Charles Kostro as the new Executive Director of the Regional Retirement System.
Association President Ralph White, without opposition, has been elected to a fifth three-year term on the State Retirement Board.
“When the deadline for filing nomination papers came and there were no other candidates it was a surprise to me,†said White. “In the years that I’ve been on either the PRIM or State Board I’ve always had election opposition. However, I don’t regard this (election) as a so-called “free ride.†There are no free rides in this business. The challenge for improvement still exists.
But Must Tackle Unfunded Liability
Continuing its climb from the abyss of Year 2008 when it lost 29% of its value, the Commonwealth’s pension fund displayed an encouraging investment return of 13.56% for Year 2010.
This followed earnings of 17.46% for Year 2009 and pushed the January 1st value of the fund, known as the Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) Fund, to $48.3 billion. While still short of the Fund’s peak value of $53.7 billion at the end of ’07, it was uplifting news for the State and Teachers’ Retirement
JANUARY 2011 VOICE: Six intrepid local retirement boards have broken the ice which had restricted the pension COLA base to $12,000 since 1998 - twelve years ago. This change in the law, which allows a higher base option, was made possible by the passage of Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2010, enacted by the Legislature and signed by the Governor this past July. The new law also allows boards to extend their debt funding schedules to a maximum date of Year 2040, in order to reduce annual appropriations by their community or county.
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.
