Greetings,

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NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT...protect and improve your pension! 

Support SF 191 (Betzold) and HF 723 (Murphy):  Omnibus Pension Bill

The Omnibus Pension Bill passed the Pension Commission on March 31 and now must pass committees in both the House and Senate.  Contained in this bill are the Teacher Pension Reform provisions.  Legislators need to hear from you that you want them to support these provisions.  

This bill improves teacher pension benefits and restores financial stability to the teacher pension fund.

Please contact your legislator and members of the House and Senate Governmental Operations committees listed at the end of this Get Active. Urge them to support this pension reform proposal.

TALKING POINTS

Benefit Reforms
Benefit improvements mean fairer, better benefits for all teachers.

* Addresses pension benefit differences for teachers hired post-1989
* Benefit improvements
----Increases formula multiplier from 1.9% to 2.1 % for future years of service
----Reduces retirement penalties for career teachers working 30+ years
----Lowers the normal retirement age from 66 to 65
* Improves MN teacher pensions as compared to other states
* Is fair to all teachers

Fiscal Stability
Adverse market conditions have created the need for added funding to keep our teacher pension fund safe.  This bill:
* Puts TRA back on the path for full funding.
* Waiting will cause the problem to get bigger making it harder to solve.
* Now is the time to act.

Fair and Balanced
This is a balanced package with shared employee/employer responsibility
* Builds on past precedents: teachers pay for benefit improvements and employer contributions  stabilize fund
* Phased-in approach balances current economic and fiscal realities with the need for a stable teacher pension fund.

Your simple message:  Please support [SF 191 Betzold/HF723 Murphy] Omnibus Pension Bill.

This bill has passed out of the LCPR, Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement).  Now it is on its way to the House and Senate Government Operations Committees.  The members of those two committees are listed below.  Call or write or email from your personal account only.   A quick call is best.  Just tell the secretary or administrative asst. who answers the phone:  

"I am calling to ask (the legislator) to please support the Omnibus Pension Bill currently in the Gov Op Committee.  Thank you."

P.S. The MN Taxpayers Association is strongly opposing this bill.  We will need to counteract their attacks on teachers and our rights to a competitive salary and pension in order to succeed.

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