June 18, 2021 – Weekly News Update: A big benefit of holding Tele-Town Hall meetings is that they enhance our ability to bring important guest speakers to our members on a regular basis.
June 18, 2021 – Weekly News Update: A big benefit of holding Tele-Town Hall meetings is that they enhance our ability to bring important guest speakers to our members on a regular basis.
Next Friday, June 25th, we are holding a special Tele-Town Hall meeting focused on the investment of your public pension. Our special guest will be Michael Trotsky, the executive director / chief investment officer of the Commonwealth’s PRIM Board. Michael is among the top public pension officials in the country, with a fantastic record of success here in Massachusetts. Friday’s meeting will be a unique opportunity to hear directly from Michael about how your pension assets are invested and kept secure.
There is no video message this week.
Over the past year, our members have heard directly from Congressman Richard Neal, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, then Boston Mayor and now US Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, House Majority Leader Claire Cronin, GIC Executive Director Matt Veno, BCBS of Massachusetts VP Mark Meunier, and UniCare Executive Director David Morales to name just a few special guests. The nature of telephone meetings has made it far easier to bring these very busy individuals to you.
While our in-person meetings will begin again this fall (Annual Meeting, Friday, September 17th), we will continue to hold periodic tele-town or other virtual meetings to ensure that we can reach all members. These virtual events will continue to include guest speakers, whenever possible.
Tele-Town Hall Meeting
Friday, June 25, 2021 at 1:00 PM EST
To participate in the meeting, call the toll-free number published within The Voice and contained within today’s email message at the time of the meeting.
Members will also receive a recorded call that will allow you to automatically connect to the meeting. Simply answer the phone to be connected.
Finally, while I do not have anything specific to update you on in terms of our efforts to pass Social Security WEP reform through Congress or advance our legislative proposals on Beacon Hill, I can report that daily work continues on all of these important issues. Please look to the July edition of The Voice for the latest information.
The one exception in terms of breaking news is in regard to extending the post retirement work waiver until the end of 2021. As you may know, the waiver of public sector post retirement work restrictions expired on June 15. While the Senate passed an extension of the waiver through December 15, 2021, the House did not. The issue remains before a House/Senate conference committee, where various extensions of pandemic-related policies are under consideration (read the latest by clicking here). We hope to have definitive news to report on this issue next week.
All the best,
Shawn
Shawn Duhamel
Chief Executive Officer
Mass Retirees Association
PS: Our weekly video message will return for next week’s update.