I want to alert you to an important piece of pending legislation that would allow members of the Optional Retirement Plan to (re-)enter the State Employee Retirement System.  At least 3 MSP members are joining faculty from other campuses to testify in support of this bill on Monday, September 21.  If this is of interest to you, there are some things you can do right now - please see below.

SB 1173, The Opportunity for an Informed Choice between the Optional Retirement Plan and The State Employees Retirement System, is a bill that would allow employees enrolled in the ORP a one-time opportunity to join the State Employees Retirement System (SERS). The buyback would be completed at no cost to the state and would require paying in ORP retirement funds with interest.  [You can read the bill at http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st01pdf/ST01173.PDF]

 SB 1173 was filed to address numerous concerns of ORP-enrolled employees, including: 

** Many gay and lesbian faculty, before gay marriage was legal in Massachusetts, signed up for ORP because under the ORP, but not SERS, they could designate their partner as beneficiary.  Now they can do so in SERS as well.

** When the ORP was first offered to faculty in 1994, ORP enrollment and related faculty orientation practices were inconsistent and at times problematic.  There are more recent examples of Human Resources Departments not being neutral and encouraging faculty to enroll in the ORP. 

** New faculty have to make this very important choice within 90 days during a particularly intense time, when they are typically overwhelmed and learning many important details about their job, department, students, and campus. It is difficult for employees to make thoughtful decisions under these circumstances.

What you can do:

1.  Attend the Public Service Committee hearing Monday at the State House at 11 AM in Hearing room A-1.  This will be followed by a lunch and meetings with legislators.   Contact MSP if you would like to carpool.

2.  Email written testimony to the co-chairs of the Public Service Committee; include a personal story about why you believe allowing this choice is important.  Ask them to report the bill favorably.  The co-chairs are:  Sen. Thomas McGee (thomas.mcgee@state.ma.us)   and   Rep. Robert Spellane at (Rep.RobertSpellane@hou.state.ma.us)

The more people they hear from, especially with compelling stories, the more they could be influenced to report the bill out of committee favorably.  Please send a copy of testimony to MSP.

3.  Contact your own legislators and urge them to support this legislation.

MSP's new Political Outreach Committee is staying on top of this legislation, and MSP will keep you posted as there are new developments.

Randy Phillis

MSP President