North Carolina Retired School Personnel

Transcription

1 North Carolina Retired School Personnel Post office Box 27347, 700 South Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC (919) Fax (919) NCRSP A division of the North Carolina Association of Educators

2 North Carolina Retired School Personnel Post office Box 27347, 700 South Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC NCRSP MONTHLY REPORT April 7, 2016 (919) Fax (919) NCRSP State Convention goes smoothly They elected a new Vice President, approved one constitutional amendment, mulled over new business items, supported the Silent Auction, applauded outstanding service at the Recognitions Banquet, and some of them ate large quantities of free candy and Moravian cookies. Let us hope that the last group also took full advantage of the free healthcare screening provided by the Sticht Center on Aging. Such was the lot of the 326 delegates to the 2016 NCRSP State Convention at the Marriott Winston-Salem, March The Rev. Willie T. Ramey III defeated Marrion M. Dunn to win the office of NCRSP Vice President for (A third announced candidate, Linda Gunter, withdrew from the race prior to the vote and asked her supporters to vote for Rev. Ramey.) Vera Taylor ran unopposed for Treasurer and Ira LaVerne Reed ran unopposed for Secretary. --The delegates approved a constitutional amendment that replaces the term Vice President/President Elect with Vice President, and the Vice President does not automatically become President. The NCRSP President automatically becomes Past President at the end of his or her term. They did NOT approve a second amendment stating that an elected officer may not serve more than two consecutive two year terms in a given elected position. --Featured speakers included State Treasurer Janet Cowell, who received the first President s Award from Dr. Terry Mitchell for her years of service to the state s retirees, and Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is NCAE s endorsed candidate for governor. --The Silent Auction garnered more than $2,000 for the NC Foundation for Public School Children, and the winner of the annual 50/50 raffle went home with more than $300 in cash. --At the Recognitions Banquet, the late Betty Huffman, the Mother of Gold Star, was remembered and honored by Vera Taylor for her many years of service to NCRSP and its members. The new Recognitions Chair, Rwanda Farrer, announced the Gold Star winners for Memorials Chair Rosalyn L. Sampson led a moving ceremony remembering the NCRSP members who have passed on during the last year. --Exhibitors included: Collette (NCRSP s endorsed travel service), Hear In America, NC SECU, Pala Village Partners, Pierce Insurance Group, Seniors Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP), Promotional Creations, Visit Winston-Salem, and the Aging & Alzheimer s Prevention Program of the Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest Baptist Health Center. --NCRSP delegates joined their NCAE colleagues in donating school supplies for children in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools through Operation Cooperation. The 2017 NCRSP State Convention will be held March (a Thursday and Friday) at the Sheraton Imperial in Durham. March 15 State Primary settles some contests, but not all NCRSP A division of the North Carolina Association of Educators

3 Former state legislator and Democrat Deborah Ross will face incumbent Republican US Senator Richard Burr in the November General Elections. Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper will face incumbent Republican Pat McCrory in the race for Governor. Mr. Cooper and Ms. Ross have the endorsement of NCAE. Due to a successful court challenge to Republican-led redistricting, the state s Congressional Primary will not be held until June 7. The General Election will be held November 8. If you wish to cast an absentee ballot this year, go to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website at and download an absentee ballot request form. You can also do the same thing by calling or visiting your local county Board of Elections and completing a form. Once you ve successfully submitted that form, your ballot will be mailed to your address. The voter has to SIGN the ballot in the presence of TWO witnesses and the witnesses must sign the certification on the returned ballot. A spouse, other adult relative or friend can serve as a witness. However, if you sign the absentee ballot in the presence of a notary, ONLY the notary s signature is necessary. Which election is the most important for retirees? North Carolina voters will go to the polls in November to elect a new President of the United States, a US Senator, a state Attorney General, a Governor and hosts of state legislative candidates. Of course, these are all very important races, but for retirees, the most important contest may be the battle to see who will succeed long-time State Treasurer Janet Cowell. Democratic candidate Dan Blue III has been endorsed by the NCAE. He is opposed by conservative Republican Dale Folwell of Forsyth County, a former state legislator. A key to Mr. Folwell s thinking may be found in his voting record. Mr. Folwell was one of the architects of our state s current policies on unemployment insurance, which are sometimes described as the stingiest and most mean-spirited in the nation. Folwell has publicly stated his belief that the lean benefits motivate unemployed people to work harder to find jobs. It would be interesting to know if he has a similarly punitive attitude toward retirement benefits. The stakes go even higher when you consider that the Office of State Treasurer administers not only the NC Retirement System Division, but also the State Health Plan. Both are targets of Republican legislators who want to cut benefits and shift more costs to retirees. NEA Delegates chosen The NCRSP Elections Committee chairperson and six volunteers met on April 4 to count ballots and eleven NEA delegates won the right to represent NCRSP at the NEA national meeting in Washington, DC, this summer. The NCRSP President, Dr. Terry Mitchell, is automatically tapped to serve as the head of the delegation. The remaining eleven delegates were elected from a list of thirty-nine (39) candidates. They are: Joan Bass, Frances Cummings, John Hoffman, Agnes H. Chavis, Vera W. Taylor, Robert Bob Grau, Barbara Grau, Geraldine McNeill, Yvonne Hart and Kever Clark. NCRSP again presents two briefing sheets on COLAs and questions for candidates 3 of 5

4 As part of its continuing effort to help members educate themselves on public policy issues affecting retirees and the public schools, NCRSP has developed briefing sheets on the topics of Cost of Living Increases (COLAs) for retirees AND a list of questions that members can put to political candidates who want our support. Both of these documents appeared in the February edition of the MONTHLY REPORT, and they are included here again for your convenience. Please feel free to reproduce them and encourage all Regions and Local Units to make use of them. They appear separately on the next two pages so that you can easily cut and paste them for reproduction. Please read on. [more follows] 4 of 5

5 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Retired Teachers and State Employees 2016 Fact Sheet North Carolina retired teachers and state employees received no COLA in 2015 even though there was money available for the legislature to provide a 1% increase and the Retirement Board of Trustees encouraged the legislature to do so. Governor McCrory did not recommend a COLA in his budget. The House of Representatives did initially support a 2% COLA in their version of the budget, while the Senate recommended NO increase for retirees -- but in the final days of budget negotiations, a retiree COLA completely disappeared from consideration -- legislators decided to use this money to fund something else! NOTE: Most active state employees received a $750 bonus last year, but retirees didn t even get that. The average annual benefit/pension for retirees of TSERS is about $20,650. A 1% COLA is about $17/month or $204/year!!!! (Each 1% retiree COLA costs about $39 million initially with a total cost of about $380 million, due to the long term increase in liability to the pension fund.) In 1941, the Teachers and State Employees Retirement System (referred to as TSERS or the State Plan ) was established. TSERS provides benefits to all full-time teachers and state employees in all public school systems, universities, departments, institutions and agencies of the state. With almost $65 billion in assets and over 640,000 members as of December 31, 2014, it is the largest pension plan within the NC Retirement System. (Other plans in the NC Retirement System are Local Government, Legislative, and Judicial). Currently, almost 200,000 retired members and survivors of deceased members receive monthly pension benefits from TSERS. North Carolina s Retirement System is financially sound one of the strongest public pension plans in the nation, thanks in part to the General Assembly contributing the Annual Required Contribution (ARC) each year-- except one. NCRSP has consistently encouraged the legislature to fully fund the ARC which helps keep the Retirement System in good shape! It is a Defined Benefit (DB) Plan, which means that both active employees and the state pay into the plan, and these funds are managed by the Office of the State Treasurer. Retirees from this system are guaranteed a defined benefit amount for the rest of their lives. The DB Plan has worked well for the past 75 years and NCRSP has consistently supported this type of plan, as opposed to a Defined Contribution (DC) plan which works much like a 401-k plan. Retirees are not guaranteed a benefit and depending on the growth (or lack thereof) of their investments, retirees could out-live their retirement savings. COLAs are given by the legislature on an ad hoc basis (not guaranteed), as monies are available. But retiree COLAs have not kept up with changes in the cost of living or purchasing power. Since 2009, retirees have received only two COLAs: a 1% COLA in and a 1% COLA in About 95% of retirement benefit recipients live in the state and their pension dollars help stimulate NC s economy. A recent study by AARP says every dollar spent by retirees generates ten dollars of economic activity and that retirees spending supports an estimated 45,000 jobs statewide. -- NCRSP February of 5

6 Questions for legislators and political candidates Public Schools/Teacher Salaries Q: How do you feel about the state of public education in NC and what, if anything would you like to see done differently? (Note for NCRSP: Do they have supportive vision for public education and mention anything about teacher salaries, ways to recruit and maintain educators/staff, etc.) Retirement System: As retirees, most of us contributed 6% of our monthly salary to the retirement system while we were working. In addition, the legislature has done a wonderful job of funding the state portion of system--which we really appreciate! This cooperative arrangement has helped make and keep North Carolina s retirement system one of the most well-funded retirement systems for teachers, government employees and yes, legislators, in the country. Some politicians, however, now feel that our current Defined Benefit Plan is too costly, even though it has worked very well for 75 years, and want to change the way it s managed. Q: How do you feel about the current Retirement System and what, if anything, would you do differently? (NOTE for NCRSP: NCRSP opposes a move from current DB plan to DC plan. The Retirement Division does offer DC-type plans on a voluntary basis as supplements for members (401-k, 457 Deferred Compensation, and 403 B) Health Insurance: The NC State Health Plan provides several health insurance options for active employees, the legislature, and retirees. 6 of 5

7 Q: What is your vision for health insurance (the State Health Plan) for members, both active and retired? (NOTE for NCRSP: Want to see strategies/vision for how to maintain a viable and financially sound plan for both active and retired members. Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for retirees As you know, our monthly retirement checks are based on the salaries we earned while working for the state of NC. Many of our members retired years ago when salaries were even smaller than they are today, thus their monthly pensions from the state retirement system are very low -- and costs of just about everything have increased. In the past nine years, retired teachers and state employees have had only two Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA s) from the legislature 1% each time! Q: As a legislator, how do you see yourself advocating for retirees and what sort of information would be helpful to you as you support a COLA for retirees? (Note for NCRSP: We want to use this question as a way to educate incumbents and candidates --- and hopefully get their positive ideas/support for retirees.) 7 of 5